Stargate: Legacies
by Waternymph95
Summary: In an alternative universe Daniel Jackson had a foster sister. On the first mission to Abydos she came along and in so doing gets caught up in the centuries old battle to rid the universe of the goa'uld and free the people they've enslaved. New relationships, new struggles, old enemies. Begins in the original movie and continues into the TV series.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: I don't own any of Stargate or the lines from the movies. This is an AU story of Stargate. I planning on it going through the movie into the tv series. I wont be doing every episode, but I will try to get the most important ones in. This is my first Stargate fanfiction so I hope you enjoy.

Stargate Legacies

"Do not fight for yourself,

fight for others,

others who may be saved

through your efforts."

-Stargate Ark of Truth-

Chapter One: Stargate

I groaned and clutched my head in my hands, letting my blonde hair hide my face as yet another professor left the auditorium. Sure Daniel was a brilliant archeologist with revolutionary ideas but his people skills, or his lack of, really got to be trying sometimes. I mean it was obvious to me that he was quickly losing everyone listening to his lecture, _he_ just didn't seem to realize it yet.

"When is the academic community going to accept the fact that the great pharaohs did not build the pyramids? Inside the great pyramid, the most incredible structure ever created, there are absolutely no writings what so ever."

"Dr. Jackson," a man called out from the audience, "you left out the fact the Colonel Vise found the inscription of Kafu's name within the pyramid..."

"Yes. Well, his discovery was a fraud."

A roar of disapproval rose around us. Come on Dani, discredit a world renowned professor in front of a room full of scientists who looked like they could chew us up?

"Well Dr. Jackson, who do you think built the pyramids?"

"I don't have any idea who built them, I mean that..." He stumbled over his words as he started to get nervous, finally picking up the hostility in the room.

"Maybe it was men from Atlantis or martians perhaps?"

"It doesn't matter who built them," Daniel stated loudly over all the rising voices in the room. Pretty much everyone was starting to leave. "the point is when they were built. We know archeological evidence dates the sphinx back to way before we even thought, I meant we need to start to reevaluate all we think we know, I've deciphered evidence of a fully developed writing system dating back the 1st and 2nd dynasties and even earlier." I got up from my seat in the front row and climbed the steps looking a Daniel sadly. Everyone was gone and we were alone. "Is there a lunch or something I missed?"

"Come on, lets get out of here." I said grabbing our suitcases.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Dr. Jackson? Miss Clark?" a man in a military uniform approached us as we left the Museum of Antiquities. It was raining and in a few seconds we were soaked.

"Yes?" I asked. "Who are you?"

"Someone wants to speak with you." He opened the door to a black, ridiculously expensive car and motioned for us to get in.

"The air force? What is this?" Daniel stared at the open car door.

"Please get in the car sir, miss."

We slid into the car, it was thankfully warm and dry inside. I got in first and I looked over to see and elderly woman sitting next to me holding some files.

"We going somewhere?" Daniel asked when the man shut the car door.

"Dr. Jackson, Miss Clark are these you're parents?" she held up a picture of our family when Daniel was a young teenager and I was a baby being held by our parents.

Daniel answered her, "My foster parents, her parents. What is this all about?"

"A job." the woman looked over at us expectantly.

"What kind of job?" I asked. Given our reputation as quacks of the academic world I was surprised anyone wanted anything from us.

"Translation, Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. Interested?"

"We're going to go now." Daniel gave me a stern look and started to open the door.

"Dani!" I all but shouted. "We _need_ a job." I added in a hushed whisper.

"Go where?" The woman gave us a skeptical glace looking at our luggage sitting in the rain outside. "You've just been evicted from your apartment, your grants have run out. Miss Clark, you've been laughed out of college and your scholarships have been suspended. All you own are in those two bags. You want to prove that your theories are right? This is your chance."

She dug into her pile of files and pulled out two envelopes and handed them to me.

"What are these?" I asked.

"Travel plans."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After a few hours of ridding in a car we arrived in Cheyenne Mountain Colorado of all places. Looking up at the barbed wire fence surrounding the military base Daniel turned to me, "What are Egyptian hieroglyphs doing here?"

"Let's just give it a chance."

He nodded as military personnel came up to the car and led us, out carrying out bags. We came to an elevator which opened to reveal the man we had seen before when the woman had offered us the job.

"Hello again." I smiled at him and held out my hand for him to shake.

"Miss Clark," he said shaking my hand then Daniel's, "Dr. Jackson thank you for coming."

"Well it's nice to be here um..." I glanced around his shirt looking for a name tag.

"Lieutenant Colonel Kawalsky." he stated pulling his name tag out of his pocket.

"It's nice to meet you again. Ahh!" I jumped, slamming my arm into the side of the elevator when Daniel let out a sudden sneeze. After all these years you'd think I'd be used it by now.

I rubbed the sore spot on my arm while Daniel blew his nose, giving me an apologetic look.

"Cold?" Kawalsky took a small step away from him.

"No allergies. Always happens when I travel." He stuffed his handkerchief into his pocket.

"You should have seen him on the plane." I giggled, jabbing him playfully in the ribs. "It was like he was hyperventilating, only with sneezing."

Daniel glared at me. "Very funny."

"Ah, here you go." Kawalsky stated when the doors opened up. Waiting for us were several people with clipboards full of notes. What is with all those files?

"Dr. Jackson, Miss Clark." A plump man with dark hair came forward and held out his hand. "Dr. Barry Micheals. How are you?"

"Hi." Daniel acknowledged him with a nod then continued to rove his eyes around the complex.

I sighed. Seeing that the man wasn't going to get any more from Daniel I decided to save him and took his hand that he was still holding out awkwardly. "Please call me Erin, pleased to meet you."

"Erin," he looked relived. "welcome."

"Thanks I'm glad to be here, where ever here is." I stepped out of the way as a couple of military personnel walked by carrying a crate. "What is this place?"

A middle aged woman came up to me and shook my hand, "An old missal silo. But don't worry it's been completely converted. Barbara Shore, hi."

She led us to a set of doors at the far end of the hallway. As the doors opened I saw something unlike anything I had ever seen before. Daniel froze staring up at the strange sight. A set of dozens of stone tablets hung on the wall forming a circle. Hieroglyphics and symbols I didn't recognize adorned them.

"Dr. Jackson, Miss Clark, glad you could come." The woman who had offered us the job approached us opening her arms in welcome.

"Thanks," Daniel said breaking out of his stupor, "this, where'd you find this."

The woman smiled and looked up at the tablets. "Giza Plateau, 1928."

"Wow!" I breathed out. I wondered why I had never heard of a find like this since I had studied about as much Ancient Egyptian artifacts and history and Dani.

"I've never seen anything like this." Daniel echoed my thoughts

"Of course you haven't, no one has."

Barry came up, pointing at different places in the formation of tablets. "Now there's two lines of hieroglyphs, the inner tracts have the classic figures, but the outer track is like the cartosh in the center. It's got writing unlike any we've ever found before."

"Those aren't hieroglyphics." Dani stated.

"Indeed," I agreed taking a closer look at the writing. "It may be some form of hieratic or cuneiform."

I saw a blackboard over to the side with an attempt at a translation on it. "Hey Dani." I tapped his shoulder and pointed at it.

Dani walked over and immediately erased some of the translation."Well the translation of the inner track is wrong. Must have been Bocks, I don't know why they keep reprinting his books."

"Ah, hey! Excuse me but... what are you doing?" Barry protested. "We've used every known technique."

"I'm sorry Barry." I said. "A lot of times you just sort of have to roll with him."

"This is a curious writing." Daniel called over to us, tapping on a particular word.

"Well yeah." Barry stuttered.

I came closer to the board. I could see what Dani was getting at. I tugged on his jacket and showed him another part of the translation. "And that verbeal 'Conceal'. It should be 'Sealed and buried.'"

"Very good!" Dani exclaimed looking at my work.

"Excuse me!" Barry shouted.

"'From on High'" Daniel muttered. "Who the hell translated this?"

"I, I did." Barry answered. Oh, that one had to hurt.

When he was finished erasing and writing Dani turned to the group "This should read "Nine years into the sky Ra the sun God sealed and buried for all time"

"Its not door to heaven," I said wiping away a part he missed. "His 'Stargate'."

"Why is the military so interested in nine thousand year old Ancient Egyptian tablets?" he asked looking back at the group.

"My report says ten thousand." a loud commanding voice said from the front of the room.

"Afternoon Cornell." Kawalsky saluted the man.

"Um, do I know you?" the woman who brought us here asked.

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill from General West's office. I'll be taking over from here."

Oblivious to the change in the rooms atmosphere Dani looked at Barbara. "Ten thousand really that's ludicrous. I mean Egyptian culture didn't even exist then."

"I know but the sonic and carbon tests are conclusive." She said showing him some sheets.

"Well what about the cover stones, is there a tomb underneath?" he asked gesturing to the tablets.

"Oh no no no, but we found something." she said softly. "A lot more interesting."

"Excuse me but this information just became classified." The Colonel O'Neill handed Kawalsky some paper work. "From now on no information is to be passed onto non-military personnel without my expressed permission."

"Catherine what's going on here?" Barry asked. So Catherine was her name.

"I'm not sure." she followed the Colonel out of the room.

I've never heard of any military taking such an interest in some old artifacts. What _was _going on?

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"It's two o'clock in the mooring Dani, just give it a rest." I guzzled down my ninth cup of coffee. Great I'm empty again.

Daniel leaned on a desk with his books strewn all over it and the floor listening to his notes, "I've compared the symbols to all writings both pre and post and have found no matches. I'm never gonna get payed."

I laughed at his last statement. "Your probably right." I saw that he had ran out of coffee to. "Hey you want some more."

"More what?" he asked, he turned to look at me and I saw deep circles under his eyes.

"No more caffeine for you." but I grabbed his cup anyway and walked out of the the lab.

Out side there was a security guard reading the paper. "Hey lady." I showed him my security card. "Oh ok." I went to the coffee machine. "It's empty!" he shouted over.

"Great." I was waking back to the room when something caught my eye on the paper he was reading. On the back was the picture of some constellations, one in particular drew my attention. "Can I have this piece?" I asked tapping on the front page.

"Yeah sure, I was almost done with it. Here." he handed my the whole paper.

"Thank you." I clutched it to my chest and ran back, bursting through the doors and startling Dani who had been dozing off.

"You gotta see this." I rushed the ladder over to the center piece of the tablets that held the cartosh. Scrambling up I slapped the paper with the constellations next a symbol. "What does this look like to you?" Pointing at the last marking of the sequence in the stone.

Dani climbed next to me. He looked back and forth between the paper and symbol groggily, then suddenly he was wide awake and staring at me in comprehension. "It that Orion?"

I nodded. "I think we might have it."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Daniel and I walked into a meeting that had been called after our little discovery. I carried a neatly put together report on our findings in a binder while Dani stumbled next to me trying to carry all his maps and books. "I think you missed a book." I joked.

"What are you serious?!" He stopped short. "I need to go back."

I grabbed his arm before he could move. "As long as you've known me you can't tell when I'm joking? You need to loosen up it's going to be an informal presentation, there's nothing to be..." My words were corruptly cut off when we entered the briefing room. About half a dozen men in full military uniforms sat around the table with at least as many scientists. "Oh crow." I squeaked out.

"Dr. Jackson Miss Clark, I'd like you to meet General West." Kawalsky introduced us to one to the men present.

"Oh right you." Dani said shaking the General's hand. The General shook my hand to before taking a seat.

"So you think you two have solved in 14 days what they haven't solved in 3 years?" He said.

"3 years?" Daniel asked incredulously.

"Anytime you feel like starting." The General snapped impatiently.

"I have some stuff." Dani spread out some of his sheets of star maps and constellations, while I handed the General our formal report. "Ah just pass them down, sorry you'll have to share I don't have enough. So what were looking at is a picture of the cover stones." He drew a crude representation of what was printed on the papers on a white board. "The outer track was originally believed to be words to be translated where in fact," He grabbed a set of maps, accidentally hitting one of the military officers, "sorry about that, were in fact star constellations. These constellations put together in a sequence form a map or address of sorts. Seven points to outline the course to a position." Dani made a diagram on the board showing how a course would be plotted. "To find the destination within any three dimensional space you need six point to determine any specific location."

"You said you needed seven points." Colonel O'Neill spoke up from the corner where he was standing.

"No six to determine the position of destination," I took the marker from Dani's hand, "to plot a course you need a seventh, a point of origin." I drew a line connecting the last two points.

"But there's only six symbols on the cartosh." Barry said waving his hand at a picture of the tablets lying on the table.

"Yes, the seventh is just below here," Daniel traced the symbol with his finger. "A pyramid with two funny neat little guys and a funny little wine glass. Anyway..." a couple of officers snickered.

"They did it." Catherine announced.

"We, we did what?" I asked.

"No, no way," Barry protested, "that symbol isn't anywhere on the device."

"There's a device?" Dani looked at Barry confused.

Genral West rose from his seat and gave a stiff nod to an officer standing by a the blast-doors."Show them." The officer returned the nod before pushing a button on the wall next to him.

Behind us the blast-doors opened. Daniel and I walked over to the widow that was revealed and looked down. Below a massive ring stood in the center of the room. Running along the sides I could just make out the symbols that we had used in our presentation only moments earlier.

"That's an eye opener." I breathed out. "What is it?"

Catherine came to stand next to us looking down at the ring for a moment, then she turned smiling. "It's your Stargate."


	2. Chapter 2

Authors note: Again I don't own Stargate but I sure wish I did, then I could live it rather than writing it. It you find some inconsistencies between the characters here and the ones in the movie it's because I'm basing my characterization on the way they were portrayed in the TV series since most of this fanfiction will eventually be occurring in the series.

Chapter Two

"Monitors up. Bring up the details on the center monitors please." The General commanded when we entered a control room of sorts.

"It was under the cover stones?" Dani asked gesturing in the general direction of the Stargate.

"Yes, my father found it back in 1928 made out a mineral unlike any found on Earth." Catherine rubbed a gold pendant around her neck and gazed at the gate like she was seeing old memories rather than the scene before her.

A lab technician began running across the screen of his computer pictures showing the marking on the gate in detail. As he went through one caught my eye.

"Hold it, wait." I said waving my hand. "Go back one." He did and on the monitor a symbol resembling a pyramid with a circle overhead appeared.

"That's it. Do you have a ...ah," Daniel grabbed a marker from the lab coat belonging to one of the technicians and began drawing on the screen, unfortunately it was a permanent marker.

Barry blanched and tried to snatch the marker away, "Hey! You can't do that!" Dani just ignored him. If he kept this up Barry was going to get a heart attack.

On the monitor Dani drew a rough representation of the seventh symbol we used in our presentation. "Two figures on either side of the pyramid, praying with the sun directly over head."

Everyone started at the screen in awe. "It was in front of us the whole time." Barry said, seemingly forgetting about the marker incident.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Dani and I were going over some data when we overheard the General and Colonel O'Neill speaking off to the side. "That's why we may have to abort. This project is for not with out a reconnaissance mission." said Colonel O'Neill, a displeased expression on his face.

I inched my way over to hear them better.

"Once on the other side we would have to decipher the markings on the other gate. And in essence dial home in order to bring the team back." The General agreed.

"Based on this new information I don't see how we could do that."

"I could do that." Daniel interjected. Oh Dani, what are you getting us into.

"Are you sure?" The General asked while staring him in the eyes like he was searching for any signs of deception.

Please don't say it, please don't say it. DON'T SAY IT!

"Positive." Dani said emphatically nodding his head. I slapped my hand to my face.

The Colonel took one look at him. "He's full of shit."

"Hey, and what are you full of?" I protested indignantly lowering my hand. Then I quickly added, before the Colonel could yell whatever he was about to say to me. "Daniel isn't going anywhere without me. He goes, I go."

The General glared down of both of us. It was clear by his expression he was trying to find a good reason to deny us going, and when he found nothing. He grumbled unhappily,"You're on the team."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

In line stood about twelve marines and air force officers. Each with gruff looking weapons and an even gruffer expressions. They looked battle ready, hardened by the years.

Dani and I couldn't have stood out more if you painted us blue. The military fatigues requisitioned for us were hung off Dani's frame like plastic bags. On me they were tied and bunched in the back by a ridiculous number of rubber bands and safety pins. "You'd think a multimillion dollar operation would have clothes that actually fit."

"Sorry kid." one of the officers standing next to Kawalsky, Feretti I think, spoke up, "We were expecting grown-ups on this mission, not little girls. But if you want we might be able to find you something in pink." He smirked at down at me.

I know I don't look my age, but if I was a kid there'd be no way I'd even be considered for this mission. "I'll have you know I'm nineteen years old and therefore legally an adult."  
"Erin." Dani warned, putting a hand on my shoulder. Right, not a good idea to pick a fight with these guys. They would so lose.

"Ten hut." Colonel O'Neill shouted striding into the embarkation area. All the officers snapped to attention, funny business forgotten. "Anybody has anything to say, now's the time to say it."

"Ah-ah-ahchew!" Dani sneezed unexpectedly and I jumped back, this time slamming into Feretti who awkwardly caught me before I fell. I nodded my head in thanks.

"Riiiiight." O'Neill glance at us disdainfully. "Let's move out."

Inside the gate room that Stargate was already spinning. In the control room Barry called out as each chevron was locked into place. "Chevron seven is locked!" The gate stopped spinning and a whoosh of water exploded outwards, spiraling until it was sucked back inwards forming a vertical pool of glimmering indigo water.

"Wow!" I said as I looked up the ramp mesmerized by the light bounding off the subtle waves in the surface of the gate. Beside me the soldiers were already moving up the ramp and starting to go through.

Before he went through Colonel O'Neill turned around and barked at me. "Clark you coming or not?"

"Oh," snapping out of it, "yeah sorry." I clambered up the ramp joining him and Dani, we were the last yet to go through.

"This is amazing." Dani lifted his and lightly touched the surface of the horizon. Seeing that it moved like water he waved his hand a little more violently, making bigger waves.

"Oh, for crying out loud." and O'Neill promptly shoved him through.

I tried to stifle my laugh, but he heard me anyway and he turned to me. "Do I have to shove you to?"

"No sir." I shook my head and I jumped through the gate. It felt like I had been submersed in ice cold water for a moment, then I flew forward on the craziest roller-coaster I've ever been on.

It only lasted for a few seconds before I found myself landing hard on a rocky surface, all the air rushed out my lungs. "Oh crow." I groaned.

"Hey you alright kid?" Feretti asked helping me to my feet.

On my left Dani was lying on the ground with his head between his knees looking ready to be sick.

I took Feretti's outstretched hand and he pulled me to my feet, just a little to fast. A wave of lightheartedness swept over me and I pitched forward only to have Feretti save me from kissing the ground for the second time that day. "The hell was that?"

"Don't worry," Kawalsky called over, "keep moving and it'll wear off in a minute."

When I was finally steady on my feet I was able to look around at where we landed. The room we were in was huge with a large corridor stretching out before us. There was a faint light at the end. Sunlight? The wall were made of a sandy brown stone and were strangely bereft of carvings or writings making me think back to some of Dani's lectures on the pyramids.

"We gotta move out!" O'Neill shouted, already gathering his gear. "Three teams, lets go."

The soldiers broke up into thee groups and stalked forward with their guns at the ready. They formed a half circle with Dani and I in the center with O'Neill. As we got closer to the end of the corridor I saw that the light was in fact an exit.

"O2 levels stable sir," One of the officers held an atmosphere detector and tentatively stepped into the open. "Conditions similar to inside."

"I'm gonna take a look around, Kawalsky, Feretti." O'Neill waved them forward and they took point as we left the safely of the structure and walked slowly into the open.

Leading down to the ground was a huge granite ramp and on either side an obelisk rose rose up. The desert stretched on as far as I could see.

We reached the bottom of the ramp and I grabbed an handful of sand, feeling it's texture. "If I didn't know better this could be the Sahara."

""I knew it." Dani shouted triumphantly next to me startling me, making me send the sand I was holding flying into my face.

"Stop doing that." I grumbled brushing the sand off me. Then I turned around and saw what he had shouted about. Reaching up into the sky was an exact replica of the great pyramids of Giza. "You were right Dani." I said as we looked at each other grinning like two children on Christmas morning.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Jackson, Clark get to work on the gate." O"Neill ordered us when we stopped staring at the pyramid.

"I don't know, I need more time. There's bound to be more structures here or traces of civilization." Daniel said gesturing to our surroundings.

"Not this trip. Just get back in there a reestablish contact." O'Neill said curtly.

"It not going to be that easy." Daniel retorted, earning a death glare from the Colonel. "This is a replica of the great pyramid of Giza," he said throwing his arms in the general discretion of the structure. "we wont find any hieroglyphs or pictograms anywhere in the structure, we really need to look around."

"You're job here is to realign the Stargate, can you do that or not." O'Neill approached us, his tone edging on threatening.

"I can't."

"You can't or you wont?"

"I can decipher the symbols on the Stargate but I need an order of alignment. Now those coordinates were marked on tablets back on earth, there has to be something like that here somewhere. I just need to find it. " Daniel explained.

"I knew it." exclaimed Feretti.

"What do you mean find it?" O'Neill took another step towards us.

I began backing away from the two men.

"You didn't say anything about finding something." he glowered and Dani.

"I assumed the tablets would be here." Daniel explained.

"You assumed?" O'Neill's voice sounded positively deadly now.

Turns out he wasn't the one I should have been watching.

"You lying son of a bitch!" Feretti barreled into Daniel and knocked him to the ground hard. "You never said a word about finding anything!"

Surprisingly it was O'Neill who jumped between them and threw Feretti off Dani. "Feretti! Set up a camp down here, organize our supplies."

"Sir." he protested.

"You got your orders." O'Neill boomed.

"You ok?" I asked Dani while I got down to check on him.

"Yeah but if I don't get us out of here soon, I wont be."

"One thing at a time. Lets get our gear to the camp for starters, then well worry about the gate." I sounded more confident than I felt. If we couldn't get back home we were going to be wrapped helically around an inclined plane.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We dragged our bags through the crude camp Feretti and Kawalsky had assembled. The glares from the soldiers burned into our backs and I dared not meet any of their gazes.

On the edge of the camp we set up our gear. Dani rooted through his vest pockets, throwing some of what he found on the ground.

"What in the world are you doing?" I asked as yet another object collided with the sand.

"I got everything here except sunblock." He answered, the annoyance evident in his voice.

"Here." I handed him my tube of sunblock.

"Were'd you find yours?"

"In the pocket that I put it in."

"Hey!" Feretti's voice broke up our conversation. He stood behind us with one of Daniel's bags full of his books. "Isn't there something you should be doing right now?" Then he hurled the bag at Daniel's head, just barley missing him. "Like getting us the hell out of here?!"

"That's enough!" I shouted jumping to my feet staring him down. Daniel had taken off chasing his books and papers before they were lost in the sand. "We're not dead yet, and it doesn't look like we're in any immediate danger. It takes time to find what we're looking for. And you all yelling at us every two minutes isn't going to get us home any faster, so can it!"

"Lady's right."O'Neill appeared out of nowhere next to me.

"Oh geez." I screamed cringing away from him.

'Sorry." he quickly apologized. "Where's Jackson?"

"Over there some here." Pointing my thumb behind me.

"We need to get you and Jackson back in there and start looking for the return code." he led us over a sand dune. "Feretti, you and your men stay here."

"Yes sir."

As we came over the top we saw Daniel standing next to a, well a literal walking carpet. The animal was huge and easy towered over Dani. Though the way it was sniffing and rubbing against him it seemed more like a big puppy begging for food, which Daniel was giving him.

"I wouldn't feed that thing!" O'Neill shouted at him, raising his gun so it was aimed at the creature.

"It's got a harness!" Daniel shouted back, tugging on the leather straps wrapped around the animal's mouth. "It's domesticated! I don't think its dangerous ahh..." the creature took off and the straps lying around it on the ground tightened around Dani's feet and the next thing we knew he was flying across the sand, screaming the whole way.

"Not again." I groaned in frustration before taking off after him with everyone else.

O'Neill and I ran side by side, seeming somewhat surprised that I could keep pace with him. I hadn't been the captain of the cross-county team for nothing.

"This has happened before?" he shouted a little breathless.

"Long story short, we were on a dig in southern Africa and he spooked an elephant." a grin spreading across my face at the memory.

We caught up to the animal and Daniel was lying prone across the sand mumbling curses in a string of ancient languages.

"You ok Jackson?" O'Neil asked as he helped Kawalsky lift Dani off the ground.

"Yeah." he said standing and brushing himself off. "Would you look at that!" He stared at something in shock behind us.

"Whoa!" I gasped. Far in the distance was a huge working camp of sorts. The sound of metal striking rocks and hundreds of voices were audible even at this distance. I squinted trying to get a better look at the aliens, then I gasped when I realized something. "Are those people? They look human!" Around me the soldiers nodded in agreement, they saw what I saw.

"Let's get a closer look, Jackson, Clark come on." O"Neill was already heading over the sand dunes.

Dani and I trudged behind them, struggling to keep up. Every few paces of so I stumbled. It funny that I can run across the sand, but as soon I slow down I'm tripping over my own feet.

When we got closer a worker called out to the rest when he spotted us. Immediately all they stopped working to watch us. So much for not making a big scene. It was like an epic staring contest between the thousands of them and the seven of us. It was completely silent for over two minutes and there seemed to be no end in sight. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a boy, about my age with dreads which strangely looked pretty good on him, who seemed to be watching me with particular interest. But when I turned to meet his gaze he turned away quickly making me wonder if I had just imagined it.

O"Neill's voice broke into my thoughts. "Alright, Jackson Clark your on."

"Us?" I squeaked.

"You two are the linguists." he said like it was so obvious, which I guess it kinda was. "Try to talk to them."

"Well," I looked at Daniel with what I hoped looked like an apologetic expression. "Technically he's the professional."

He sighed in resignation before walking up to the group of people closet to us. "Um," he tried to decide what to say to them, "Hi!"

Kawalsky scoffed next to me. "Sure, professional. I coulda done that."

I tried to stop myself from giggling.

"Mettu aya." A dark skinned man said looking at Daniel. He whirled looking behind him to shout so the rest of them could hear. "Mettu a aya!"

Everyone, no matter where they were or what they were doing dropped what they were holding and fell to their knees before us.

"Ok, I was not expecting that." my eyes roved uneasily over the mass of people.

"What they hell did you say to them?" O'Neill questioned Daniel while we came to stand side by side with him.

'Nothing." he replied shrugging his shoulders.

"Hey." I interjected. "maybe we should try to get them up off the ground, this is creeping me out."

"I agree." O'Neill knelt down next to boy I had seen earlier and took his hand, trying to shake it in greeting. "Hi, how ya doing."

The boy looked up at him in fear and yanked his hand away screaming. Hurling himself to his feet he took off running. "Sheep esoy, sheep esoy. Asu..." his voice faded in to the distance.

O'Neill glanced back at us, confusion all over his face. "What I say?"

"I don't think it was you. I mean think about how strange we must seem to them." I waved my hand at the mass still kneeling on the ground.

Faintly I heard the boy's voice again, "Asu, sheep aya." He was leading what seemed to be an animal like the one that had drug Dani, only about twice as large.

When it got closer a man slid off the animal. If not for his ornate clothes, then his regal posture alerted me to the fact that this man was most likely the leader of these people. He watched us with some uncertainty, but approached us never the less. "Yeahyawa mahate ancac Kasuf."

Daniel's face was a mixture of awe and confusion which was his trademark whenever he was trying to understand something that for the moment completely baffled him. "I can't make it out."

Some of the words seemed vaguely familiar to me, "It may be a form of chatic or armanic." I offered.

The leader waved his hand at the mass, "Amow." and they all rose to their feet. Then he gestured to a group on his left and several women came forward with bowls full of water and offered them to us.

Next to me I saw the woman who gave the bowl to Dani watching him closely and then blushing when he looked down at her. "Thank you." he said and a brief smile crossed her face as she stepped away from him.

"Se plue." the leader gestured with his hands for us to follow him.

"He's inviting us to follow him." Dani translated.

O'Neill was still skeptical, "How do you know?"

"Because," and I mimicked the man's gesture with my hands, "he's inviting us to go with him."

"We were looking for signs of civilization, obviously we have found it. You want me to get us home? This is our best shot." Dani said.

"Colonel he's right. I took some reading of what they're mining. Its made of the same material as the Stargate." One of the soldiers added as he bent down and scanned a basket full of a dark rocky substance.

"Radio base camp, tell them to keep that area secure until we get back." O'Neill ordered Kawalsky.

"Yes sir."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The leader, who we learned was named Kasuf lead us through the desert. In the distance a city of sorts rose up from the sand.

"That's amazing. "I said to no one in particular. I should have been watching were I was going because, what do you know, I tripped again and plowed into someone almost knocking them over.

Whoever it was caught me and I looked up to see dark brown eyes starring down at me. It was the boy from before. My face blazed red, "Sorry and thanks." I managed to stutter out. Even though he didn't understand my words he seemed to understand I was thanking him.

He nodded and smiled faintly saying something, which I took for a 'you're welcome'.

Next to me Daniel started huffing, "ahh-achew!" he took out his filthy handkerchief.

"I think it's about time you burned that." I pointed at it.

"What? No, I've had this for years." he looked slightly hurt, but I could tell he was joking.

I laughed, "My point exactly."

Behind us I heard the boy mumble to the group of kids that had assembled around us. Then there was the distinctive sound of a slap. I whirled around to see what was going on just in time to see the boy shove Daniel's handkerchief back into one of his pockets.

I couldn't suppress my laugh and I heard someone else laughing with me. The woman I saw eying Daniel for the past hour gazed affectionately at the boy and Daniel. I think Dani has an admirer.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Entering the city I glanced around us. There were several levels weaving in and out of the buildings swirling above.

Kasuf called out and two men on platforms about twenty feet up ran over and pulled away a leather covering over a gold medallion suspended in the air. Kasuf knelt on the ground in front of Daniel and the rest of his people followed.

The intricate symbol engraved into the gold caught my eye. "The eye of Ra." I breathed out. "The Egyptian Sun God." I explained when many of the soldiers looked clueless. "They must think he sent us here."

"Yeah. I wonder what gave them that idea." O'Neill walked over to Daniel picking something up off his chest.

For the first time I noticed that around Dani's neck was Catherine's gold pendant. "How did you get that?" I asked.

"Catherine gave it to me. She said it might bring me luck."

I bent down next to Kasuf and pointed at the symbol above us, "Ra. Ra?" He looked up at me and nodded slightly.

Suddenly all around the air filed with the sound of horns and shouting. The people started to shout at each other and move farther into the city while several men ran to the gate we had just came through and frantically began to close it.

"What are they all doing? Where are they going?" O'Neill shouted at me and Daniel.

"I don't know." I said shrugging my shoulders before having to step out of the way of some natives running past.

Static came from the Kawalsky's radio, "Feretti! I can't hear you." He handed the radio to O'Neill. "Sir I can't make this out."

"Feretti, repeat." O'Neill shouted into the radio.

Static, "Sir we have to..." garbled words. "I repeat we have to abandon base camp."

"Arando she boy!" Kasuf shouted and the men finished closing the gates.

"We're going back right now!" O'Neill hoisted his gun and shoved his way through the crowd, using his gun to part a path.

"Colonel!" I barreled after him trying to get his attention. "I think they're closing those gates for good reason."

"Yeah." He yelled back at me but continued forwards. "What reason could that possibly be?" He and the soldiers reached the gate. When the natives wouldn't move they started shooting at the ground, sending the everyone screaming in terror. "Get out of the way!" He and Kawalsky grabbed two men trying to flee and held their weapon on them.

"Colonel stop it!" I commanded, not that they would listen to me. Running, Daniel and I put ourselfs between them and the rest of the people gathering around us holding our hands up.

The natives grew silent, waiting to see what we would do next. I felt someone brush pst me and I glanced beside me to see the boy bravely approaching O'Neill.

"Ney ne, ney ne." he said calmly waving his hands slowly at the gate. When O'Neill slowly started to lower his gun the boy gestured for O'Neill to follow him. "Shashe teu, yu yu."

Before he follow, O'Neill stopped and turned to Dani and I. "You two stay here."

The boy lead him up three level till we saw that they have come out on and walkway running across the top of the gate.

"What is it Colonel?" Kawalsky yelled up while still firmly gripping his hostage.

"Sandstorm, and coming this way." The Colonel shouted down, and a chill went down my back.

With a huff Kawalsky released his hostage then waved for the rest of his men to lower their guns.

"Well that would have been an excellent reason to shoot everyone." Daniel mumbled.

I knelt on the ground and put my head in my hands, trying to control my breathing. We had been in only one other sandstorm before. I didn't remember much except for how the constant sand blowing in my face made it seem like I was drowning.

Daniel came over and put his hand on my back. "It's going to be okay, we're safe here. You going to be okay?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I'm going to go over there to talk to Kasuf," I looked over to where Kasuf and Kawalsky were talking. Kawalsky seemed to be apologizing. "Come get me if you need anything."

I sat on the ground for a few more minutes before someone nudged me. "Dani, I'm ok." I responded without looking up."

"Esoy?" a voice that was definitely not Dani's questioned. My head snapped up and I saw the boy, _really needed to learn his name_, looking down at me with concern.

"Oh, um... Hi." I smiled up at him and he held out his hand smiling back. Taking his hand he helped my up. When we were standing said by side I noticed that he was actually sort of short, though not as short as me, no one is as short as me. My face started to burn slightly when he didn't release my hand.

"Um." Thinking of something to say. "Shashe teu? Sandstorm?" I said using words I heard Kasuf used, they seemed familiar.

The boy's eyes widened and he nodded his head vigorously, "Shashe teu!" he pointed at the gate.

He lead me to where I heard some music coming from. A party had formed around where the rest of my team were sitting with Kasuf. A bunch of women came up and sat down in front of them trays full of various exotic foods.

O'Neill looked up at the boy and I, "I see you made a friend." He said jokingly.

"Huh, what?" I was a little confused. He gestured at our hands and my face burned scarlet when I realized the boy and I were still holding hands.

I made a choking sound and plopped myself down next to Kawalsky. The boy let go of me but sat down next to me. The soldiers smirked over at us, but stopped at my death glare.

"Hey Jackson," O'Neil drew my attention to where he and Dani were side by side. Dani was just about to put a handful of food into him mouth. "I don't think we should be eating the food here."

"I don't know." I called over. I nodded in thanks when the boy handed me a bowl of food that looked like mangoes. He smiled at me then handed my another bowl. "They might consider that an insult." I took a piece of bread from the boy, or at least I think it was bread.

A cheer rose up around us and two women came and placed a huge tray, presumably the main course, in front of Dani and O'Neill. When they pulled the cloth off I wished I had brought a camera to capture the Colonel and Dani's expressions at the fried lizard split open down its back.

"Well." Scoffed Kawalsky. "We wouldn't want to offend them now would we."

I nearly spit out the food I was eating to keep from giggling when the Colonel glared over at Kawalsky.

Daniel tentatively reached forward and took a hunk of the cooked meat from the creature. He scrunched his face up in preparation of a bitter taste, but his expression slowly softened till he was smiling. "Tastes like chicken." he laughed out. "Tastes like chicken." Kasuf was looking at him trying to understand. "Tastes like um... bow-bwock-bwock-bow-bow."

"Jackson!" The Colonel yelled to get him to stop. "You said that was and Egyptian symbol, Clark?" he asked me looking at the gold plaque.

"Yes. It the symbol for the Ancient Egyptian god Ra."

"Do you think it stands to reason that if they knew one Egyptian symbol..." he said tuning his head to look at Dani.

"Yes! Um here." Dani rose walking across the circle to Kasuf. He pulled out the necklace Catherine had given, him. Immediately Kasuf averted his eyes and bowed his head to the ground. "No no, you don't have to do that." Dani got him to rise back up. With his finger Dani began to carve into the sand an Egyptian symbol of greeting. Kasuf stared at the symbol in fearful shock and quickly covered it with his foot. He shot to his feet and called out for the players to stop the music.

"Whats going on?" O'Neill got to his feet, his hand wavering toward his gun.

"It seems like writing is forbidden to them." Daniel answered.

"But forbidden by whom?" I asked.

A group of women surged forward and surrounded Daniel. "Hey, Hey! What are you..." he exclaimed in surprise as they whisked him away.

"Daniel!" I shouted trying to follow, only to be stopped by O'Neill.

"I think he's going to be fine." A ghost of a smile playing on his face.

My eyes widened in realization of what he meant. "Oh." was all I could say.

Author's note: For the Abydonian language I didn't know exactly how it was spelled, so I spelled it as close as I could get it to how it sounded in the movie.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I don't own Stargate of any of its character. All I own is my OC. I know I've left some parts out and some other parts will be left out since I'm telling this from my oc's point of view she only knows what she sees. I hope you enjoy. The italics in quotations are when the characters are speaking in another language.

Chapter Three

After the meal my team had been led to a tent on the ground level. When I had tried to follow Kasuf had been frantic in trying to dissuade me from going. I guess they weren't to keen on letting a young girl stay in a room with a bunch of grown men.

For the moment I sat where we had dinner earlier. A group of women had come and set out a sleeping pallet for me about half an hour ago and now I just sat there tent with my team was only about twenty feet away so I didn't feel to exposed, but being alone with no one to talk to kind of sucked.

The boy, what _was_ his name, went into my teams tent. He was in there for about ten minutes. I only caught a few snippets of conversation. Suddenly I heard O'Neill screaming and the boy fled the tent in fear.

_What the? _I don't really know why but I took off after him. When I finally caught up he was sitting on a platform at the top of a flight of stairs.

"Hey." I called out tentatively as I climbed the steps. "Are you ok?"

His head snapped up when he heard me, but he relaxed into a smile and waved for me to sit by him. Sitting down next to him he turned so that we were facing each other. "Skaara." He said pressing his hand to his chest.

"Skaara?" I repeated.

He nodded his head grinning and pointed at himself again, "Skaara."

I realized it was his name. "Skaara." I smiled pointing at him so he knew I understood. "Erin." I put my hand on my chest.

"Airen." he kind of butchered my name.

"Yes, Erin."

"Airen." Skaara smiled.

He continued speaking, most of it I didn't understand, but a few works caught my attention. I grabbed his arm.

He stopped speaking abruptly and stared down at my hand on his arm. "Opps." I said removing my hand. I hope I hadn't broke some kind of social protocol, they did seem pretty old fashioned.

When he said nothing I repeated the words I recognized.

His face broke into a grin and he repeated himself, straightening out the way I said the words.

"_Do you understand me now?_" I asked using an old dialect of Egyptian Daniel had taught me. I just adjusted the pronunciation of some of the vowels.

"_Yes, yes! And you understand me?_" Skarra asked.

I nodded, "_Yes_."

"Skaara!" A boy called from below us.

"_Come._" Skarra took my hand and we went down to the lower level. "Nebeth." he greeted the boy.

"_Where were you?_" Nebeth asked as several other boys gathered around us.

"_I was talking to the strangers from away._" The boys looked at me uncertainly. "_This is Airen._" Skarra introduced me.

"_Hello_." I said waving my hand shyly. They waved back in synchronization, it was kind of funny.

Skarra reached into a pocked a pulled out a lighter. "_Their leader gave me this._" He flipped it on and a small flame bounced out. Immediately Nebeth reached his hand forward to see if it was real. He jerked back when it burned him.

I laughed when Skaara slapped his hand away.

"Hey you guys." Colonel O'Neill voice called from around the corner. "So this is where you went of to?" He said when he spotted me.

I just shrugged.

"I'm looking for Jackson. Have you seen him?"

"No, I haven't seen him since dinner." shaking my head. "Maybe they know." But before I could ask them O'Neill started talking. Right, I forgot to tell him that we could communicate now.

"I'm looking for Jackson." He held up Daniel's vest. "He's got long hair." he pointed to his hair and all the boys saluted him. "No, no wears glasses so he can see," He put hand goggles over his face they mimicked him.

My sides were hurting from how hard I had started laughing. I should provably interrupt him, but I was enjoying this to much.

"I guess the word dweeb doesn't mean anything to you guys does it?" O'Neill threw his hands up in exasperation. "Come on I'm on planet X looking for a dweeb who wears green fatigues, wears this jacket, and his hair comes over his eye like this," He drew his fingers over his eyes and the boy did the same thing again. "wears glasses and achue sneezes."

"Pow!" Skaara yelled nodding as he realized what O'Neill meant. "Pow! Pow!"

"Yeah, chicken man," O'Neill shouted over the chorus of chicken sounds from the boys. "Chicken man!"

"_Stop!_" yelled Skaara.

Nebeth kept acting like a chicken, flapping is arms until Skaara slapped him. Huh, I wonder if this is a common occurrence with those two.

"_May I?_" Skaara asked O'Neill reaching for Daniel's jacket.

"You want this?" O'Neill held up the jacket.

Right, he still didn't know what Skaara was saying.

Skaara took the jacket and ran to one of the walking carpet animals and let it sniff it. The creature jumped up and down until Skaara threw the gate open wide and it barreled out. The boys ran after it, hooting all the way.

"What now?" O'Neill came up beside me.

"I suppose we follow." I ran after them, then turned back when O'Neill didn't come to. "Come on."

"Oh sure, like that thing is a blood hound." he grumbled.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After running trough what felt like half the city we found Daniel in in some old caticombs talking to the woman from before.

"I thought you couldn't speak their language?" O'Neill bombed as soon as Daniel came into sight.

"Oh," Dani clutched at his chest, "You scared me."

"Yeah, you and Clark seem to have that in common. Now answer my question." He said curtly.

"Sha're" Skaara greeted the woman.

"_Brother_." She smiled up at him.

"_Brother?_" I questioned.

O'Neil whirled on me. "You to?"

"Kinda."

"Why didn't you stop me when I was making an idiot of myself?" He hissed.

"Sorry," I squeaked. "But it was just to funny."

He glared at me and turned back to Dani who was still on the floor.

"It's and ancient Egyptian dialect. I mean like the rest of their cut lure its evolved independently. One you know the vowels..." Dani explained.

"Then it's just a simple matter of getting the pronunciation right." I finished his sentence.

"So that's a yes?"

"Yes." Dani rose from the ground.

"It hasn't been a living breathing language in over two thousand years." He went over to a wall with carving similar to ones I'd seen in Egyptian temples. "I gotta show you all something. It says here a traveler from distant stars escaped an dying world. Looking for a way to extend his own life." His hands traced the hieroglyphs as he told the story. "His body decaying and weak, he couldn't prevent his own demise. His whole species was dying, he traveled the whole galaxy searching, looking for a way to cheat death. Look here, he came to a world rich with life, and he encountered a primitive race, humans. A species with all his knowledge and powers he could maintain indefinitely. He realized that within a human body he had a chance for a new life. Now apparently ah, a young boy, while everyone else ran and night became day, curious and without fear he walked towards the light. Ra took him and possessed his body, like some kind of a parasite looking for a host." I shivered as he said that last part. "It inhabited his human form and he appointed himself ruler. He used the Stargate to bring thousands of people here to this planet, to work in the mines, like here. Clearly this mineral is the building block for all his technology. So he could sustain his life. Now something happened back on Earth. A rebellion and uprising, the Stargate was buried. Fearful of a rebellion here he banned all reading and writing. He didn't want people to remember the truth."

"So all these people, they're what, his slaves." My voice held an edge of anger.

"Essentially." Daniel grunted shaking his head in disapproval.

"Jackson, Erin I think you better take a look at this." Kawalsky yelled from a nearby room.

In the room we found his was a stone cartosh like the one found in Giza back on Earth.

"That's it, that's what were looking for." Daniel said bending down to brush off the sand caked on its surface. "They must have hidden it here, perhaps hopping that one day the gate to earth may be reopened. I knew they must have written it down some place. Wait a minute, wears the seventh symbol?" At the bottom where the symbol should be there was only a cracked stump. "It must have broken off. It's gotta be here," he found it lying under the sand, only, "its worn off. I can't make it work with out the seventh symbol."

"Alright that's it." O'Neill's voice had taken on a dangerous edge. "Kawalsky, Jackson, Clark come on. We're leaving."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The rest of my team were already heading out the main gate, but I hesitated. Skaara came up next to me.

"_You are leaving_." It wasn't a question.

"_We need to find a way back to our home_." I answered him sadly.

"_May not to many moons pass before we see each other again._" he said resting a hand on my shoulder in a gesture of farewell.

"_I hope so to_." I backed away from him. "_Goodbye._"

I turned to follow the rest of the team and found Daniel's gaze lingering on one of the natives in particular. Shar're. "Maybe we'll come back." I tried to be reassuring.

'Maybe."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

We walked for about an hour before we came to the pyramid. However it wasn't the olny thing we found. Resting atop it was a glistening gold craft.

"What the hell is that?" Daniel stared at the spaceship.

"Here," Kawalsky handed Daniel and I each a hand gun. "You might need these. To turn the safety off you..."

Immediately I flipped the safety off and cocked my gun.

"Never mind."

"Let's move." O'Neill led us into the pyramid.

Scattered inside the enhancer were the rest of the teams gear. Scorch marks and bullet holes marred the wars showing evidence of some kind of fight. Near the died out fire in the center of the room was a distinctive stain of red that could be only one thing.

"Stay close." Daniel whispered in my ear and he pulled right behind him.

O'Neill signaled us to stop moving and we did, but there was the faint sound of footsteps echoing of the walls and ceiling. We weren't alone.

Behind us and a little to the left there was a pained grunt the the sound of a body falling to the group. I turned around to see if I could find the intruder, but I could see nothing.

Breathing hard, I tried to control my pounding heart. I gasped when I turned back around and Daniel was gone. I pressed my back against the pillar behind me, trying to make myself as small as possible.

"Airen!" Skaara's voice suddenly reverberated within the chamber. My head shot up and I saw his face starring in through one of the slitted windows. "_Behind you!_" He shouted.

To late I realized he was trying to warn me and something hard and metallic collided with my stomach forcing all the air out of my lungs and a pained scream with it.

"_No!_" I heard Skaara through the blurriness the world had become.

Falling to the ground I glanced up at my attacker. I must have been hallucinating because Horus was standing over me.

It grabbed the scuff of my army fatigues and dragged me across the ground deeper into the pyramid. Most of my blond hair fallen out of it's ponytail across my face, obscuring most my vision. A bright light appeared above us and suddenly I found myself in a room I didn't recognize. The creature roughly hulled me up so I was kneeling before a pharaoh's chair in the center of a grand, ornate room.

A few moments later Anubis came in dragging O'Neill and Daniel. Again they were forced to kneel before the throne.

"Erin, are you hurt?" Daniel immediately asked me. One of the creatures surged forward and hit him in the stomach with its staff weapon.

The meaning was clear, _shut up_.

Drums sounded with in the room and at the far end a door opened. Out poured dozens of children dressed in traditional Ancient Egyptian garments. Following them a man came out with several of the children carrying parts of his elegant robe. His face was covered in a mask made out of precious metals and embellished with numerous jewels. He came to the throne and sat, his back ramrod straight.

When he spoke his voice had a strange, deep reverberation to it like there were two voices mashed into one. "_You have come here to destroy me._" He motioned with a wave of his hand at two servants who came forward. They laid down an object in front of us.

"Oh my God." I gasped in horror. "That's a nuke!"

It was unmistakable, and though I'd never seen one in person the menace that radiated off it was palpable.

"That's what you were looking for." Daniel exclaimed next to me. I had a feeling I was missing something, but right now I really didn't care. "What the hell were you thinking? What did you come here for?"

O'Neill didn't respond, he only glared at the man on the throne in undiluted anger.

I heard a metallic clicking noise and the Horus and Anubis creatures masks pulled back to reveal men beneath.

Up in the throne the man's mask pulled back and young youthful boy appeared. The descriptions from the ancient texts I had read as Daniel's student identified him for me, this man before us was the god Ra in the flesh.

The Colonel shot his hand out and grabbed on the guards staffs and he shot one of the guards before turning to aim the weapon at Ra. All the children rushed forward to surround Ra. There was no way for him to shoot without hitting on of them.

"Jack!" I heard Daniel scream the Colonel's first name and a blast rung in the air.

The room went stock still. Daniel was lying on his back, a patch of smoke rising from his unmoving chest.

"Daniel! No!" I screamed and I ran to where he was lying, dead. "No,nonono." I repeated over and over in denial. My brother couldn't be dead. Pulling his head into my lap I rocked his lifeless body. Dimly I heard O'Neill being dragged out of the room.

I don't know how long I sat there, but it wasn't long before a couple of the children came and pulled me off Daniel. They each took one of my hands and lead me into the room they had come out of before.

They sat me down in a cushioned chair in a corner of the room. I drew my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them, trying to stop my shaking. My mind just couldn't seem to comprehend that Daniel was gone. Nothing that was happening around me registered in my thoughts.

"Erin?" an impossible voice questioned behind me.

"Daniel?!" There he was, alive. Where he had been hit there was only a hole with freshly healed skin. I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around him tightly and he held me close in return."You were dead." my voice wavered, my eyes near tears.

"_That's why I choose you race._" The reverberating voice from before answered from behind a curtain of silky material. Ra rose out of a pool of water and held his arms out. Servants glided forwards to put a rope around him. He continued. "_Your bodies, so easy to repair. You have advanced much, harnessed the power of the atom._" The bomb had been placed upon an altar in the center of the room.

"_What are you going to do?_" Daniel slowly inched towards Ra, keeping me close the whole way.

More servants had surrounded Ra and helped him put on a bracelet with a red jewel in the center of the palm. "_You should not have reopened the gate. Soon, I will send your weapon back to your world, with a shipment of our mineral which will increase your weapon's destructive power a hundred fold._"

Daniel's grip on me tightened. "_Why would you do that?_"

Ra swiveled his head to look at us, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "_I created your civilization, now I will destroy it._" he eyes glowed like embers burned behind them. "_But before my workers question my power you will prove that I am their one God, by killing your companions._"

"_If I refuse?_" Daniel asked defiantly.

"_Then I will destroy you, and all who have seen you._" Ra glanced at me, emphasizing his threat. Ra grasped Catherine's necklace around Daniel's neck. "_There can be only one Ra_." He viciously yanked the necklace off, his eyes glowing once more.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note. I don't own any of Stargate. Italics in quotations indicate that the characters are speaking in another language.

Chapter Four

The Sun beat down from the sky scorching everyone assembled before the pyramid. Ra sat upon his throne, his mask covering his face that I knew held a sick smirk underneath. Below on the ground thousands of natives were forced to their knees. Less than twenty feet away O'Neill, Kawalsky, Feretti, and the remaining survivors of my team were also kneeling, awaiting their executions. Through in the face of imminent death, none of them showed any fear.

Next to me Daniel's hands were shaking. The Anubis guard shoved his staff out of him, waiting for Daniel to take it. Daniel eyes traveled the length of the weapon. I knew he was debating whether to take it.

"_Destroy them!_" Ra commanded lifting on one of his gold plated fingers.

Daniel looked back at me and took the weapon. He hesitantly moved his feet, trudging down to our team. He switched the staff on, a electric current traveling over the tip.

The Anubis guard grabbed my forearm, his clawed fingers diging in deeply, drawing blood. I had to bite my lip to keep from screaming. He yanked me back, my feet tripping over each other until I was standing side by side with Ra's throne.

"_Please, don't make him do this._" I begged the god but he ignored me.

Daniel was about to fire when a reflected light shinned in his face halting him. I saw it too and traced the lights path down into the audience. Skaara stood close to the edge of the ramp with Sha're. In his hand was the lighter O'Neill had given and he was using it to reflect the sunlight into Dani's face. From under his robe he slightly pulled out the butt of a gun.

Daniel nodded his head slowly at O'Neill who twitched his hand to show he got the message. I tensed, ready to spring into action at any moment.

Suddenly he whirled and fired the staff weapon at Ra just barley missing and hitting the wall to his left. The flying rock and debris was enough of a distraction for me to rip my arm from the guard.

My team ran into the mass of people and many of the native rushed forward to throw tan robes over them.

I slid down the ramp after them, my eyes searching for Daniel. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Sha're grab him.

I had almost made it, I was so close. Just a few more feet and I to would be lost in the panicked crowd.

One of the soldiers was fleeing when a blast of fire erupted from his back and knocked him to the ground.

I fell to my knees on the sand next to him and wrapped my hands around his arms. His was so heavy. I could barley hold him up and run at the same time.

"Clark." He choked. Blood came pouring out of his mouth. "Get out of here."

"No!" I shouted, I knew he was dying but I had to keep trying. "We're going to make it. Just a little further. "

Without warning a clawed hand grabbed my neck from behind in a vice like grip. My feet came off the ground as the Anubis guard held me up with one arm. My fingernails scraped at his hands while my breaths came in shortening stutters. The sound of a body falling to the ground told me that soldier didn't make it. Tears leaked out of my eyes, I was to weak to save him.

"Airen!" Skaara was running towards me, having to shove his way through the thick crowd. He raised his gun shooting at the guard. The bullets ricocheted off his armor, but to no effect.

The guard pulled me close, whispering in my ear, "_There is no where to run._" He shoved his arm forward launching me through the air.

In slow motion my body moved closer and closer to the side of one of the obelisks. I felt a resounding crack as I collided head first with it.

I crumpled too the ground in a heap. None of my limbs moved when I commanded them to. A vicious blackness hovered on the edges of my vision. Something warm was dribbling down the side face. I felt cold, so cold. I fought the dark.

"Airen!" Shaara's face appeared above me. He mouth was moving, but no I heard no sound coming out. His arms came around me pulling me up, but it felt like it was happening to another person's body.

I couldn't fight anymore. I let the dark win.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Erin." A faintly familiar voice called to me. "Can you hear me? You gotta wake up."

"Come on Kid." another floating voice penetrated the thick veil.

I knew that voice. "Fer-Feretti?"

A hand squeezed mine.

I pried open my eyes and immediately shut them when a bright light pierced the darkness. "Ow!" I moaned.

"Feretti you idiot, shut that thing off." there a a click. From a flashlight?

"Kawalsky?" Opening my eyes again Kawalsky and Feretti's blurred faces slowly came into focus. "What happened?" Glancing around our surroundings I saw we were in a cave with at least a dozen natives. A fire was burning in the center giving off a soft illumination.

"You got hit on the head pretty hard. You've been out for hours." he answered.

"How did I get here? The last thing I remember..."

Kawalsky cut me off. "That boy, Skaara. He carried you the whole way here. Even once we got here it took the both of us to convince him to let go of you so we could take care of your head."

Reaching up I touched my head where I had hit the obelisk. I hissed and jerked my hand away when a jab of pain rushed over my forehead. "How bad is it?"

"You probably have a concussion, though not to serious. There is a gash on the left side of your face just above your eyes that will mostly likely scar. Other than that and some bruises you should be fine."

"Is everyone else ok?"

"We lost one man." Feretti said sadly. I felt a pang in my chest remembering the last moments before I lost consciousness.

"There's something else." Kawalsky added. "There was a sandstorm, we got separated from O'Neill and Daniel. A few of the boys went out after them along with Skaara and two of our men, but its been hours."

"I have to find them." I tried to sit up. Kawalsky caught my shoulders holding me in place.

"Oh no you don't. If you went out in that storm we'd never find you. These kids know what their doing," he gave me a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach his eyes, "I'm sure they'll find them."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I had dozed back off after a few hours of waiting for the boys to come back. I was hovering just on the edge of consciousness when I felt a hand gently shaking my shoulder. Slowly I sat up to avoid a rush of pounding in my head.

The woman I had seen with Daniel was holding out a bowl of water n her hand. _"Hello,"_ I said. _"Sha're right?" _

_ "Yes."_ She smiled sadly at me. "_You should drink before you become ill._"

"_Thank you._" Taking the bowl I tried to refrain from gulping down the water.

She nodded but her eyes kept glancing worriedly at the cave's entrance. "I_ worry for them. Skaara has faced storms in the open before, but never has he been gone as long as this. But if anyone can find Dan-yell and O'Neel, he can._" Sha're took a deep breath to calm herself. "_They will be back soon." _

Hooting came from the entrance as several men stumbled in from the storm outside and collapsed to the ground.

"_See?_" Sha're laughed.

"_Do you think you could help me over to them?_" I asked getting to my unsteady feet.

"_Of course_." She wrapped one of her arms around my shoulder and held my hand with the other.

Daniel sat on the floor of the cave taking in deep gulps of air. Sha're sat me next to him then took a bowl of water from one of the other women to hand to Daniel.

"_Thank you._" he croaked, finishing the whole bowl in one gulp.

When he was finished I wrapped my arms around him in a crushing hug. "Hey Erin. I'm fine, I'm okay. Um,"he tried to pull away, "but I still need oxygen."

Quickly I dropped my arms. "Sorry."

"Skaara!" I heard Sha're call to her brother. He had barley gotten the heavy gear from earth off before she pulled him to her in a hug.

I smiled to myself resting my head on Dani's shoulder.

"_To our victory!_" Skaara shouted gleefully. He handed his gun to O'Neill who was sitting across from Dani and I. "_We recovered your weapons._"

"Hey Colonel. So what do you think?" Kawalsky plopped down on O'Neill left side. "They aren't special forces, but they sure are eager to join up."

O'Neill's face twitched as he looked down at the weapon in Skaara's hands. Angrily he ripped the gun away from him. "Take these away from them before they hurt themselves."

"Sir?" Kawalsky was confused. But I was getting the sense that there was something going on with the Colonel that we didn't know about.

"Send them all home." O'Neill ordered.

"There's no place for these kids to go, anyway we could sure use their help right now." reasoned Kawalsky.

O'Neill blew. "To do what huh? To do what?!"

All the separate conversations that had been going on between the natives minutes before had abruptly cut off as they all stopped to watch us. Skaara glanced over at me, a question of whether to intervene was in his eyes. Shaking my head slightly, indicating him to stay put, my eyes went back to the fuming Colonel.

"Why don't you just tell them everything?" Daniel glared up at the Colonel, visibly shaking. "Why don't you tell them about the bomb?"

"What's he talking about?" Kawalsky demanded.

"My orders were simple." O'Neill fell back to the ground with a huff. He drew his knees up resting his arms on them. His eyes meet with each of his remaining men before he proceeded. "Track down any signs of danger, and if I found any blow up the Stargate. Well I found some." he laugh humorlessly.

"Well your bomb is his now. " Daniel growled, I hadn't seen him this angry or serious before. "And he is going to send it back to earth with a shipment of the mineral. And when it goes off the blast of be a hundred times more powerful that what the bomb alone is capable of."

"I'll intercept that bomb before he can send it through." O'Neill cut him off with a clipped statement.

"Why wasn't I told of this?" Kawalsky looked at his superior in shock.

"Because there wasn't any reason to tell you Kawalsky." He shouted. "You were all supposed to go right back through the gate with Daniel and Erin. I was going to stay behind and blow up the Stargate, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."

"Its the gate on earth that poses a threat, that's the one we need to shut down." Daniel said.

"You absolutely right, but since you don't know how to get us back we don't have that option do we?" O'Neill rose and stalked off deeper into the cave.

I rose to follow him.

Daniel grabbed my hand. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to him."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now." Kawalsky mumbled throwing some dirt into the fire.

"Someone has to try." My wobbly legs carried my in the general direction O'Neill went.

"_Do you need help?_" Skaara stood holding onto one of my arms to steady me.

"_I'm fine._" I assured him.

"_What has happened?_" he swept his hand to where the rest of my team was still sitting.

I sighed, "_I don't really know, but I'm going to find out_."

"_It will be okay, I'm sure it will._" he said

"_I hope so._" I brushed my hand over his. "_I'll be back._" Skaara let go and went to sit by Daniel.

Continuing after O'Neill I found him in a darker part of the cave. He sat staring off into space absentmindedly twirling a knife in his hands.

"Colonel O'Neill?" I asked softy lingering in the doorway of the chamber. When he didn't answer I tentatively used his first name. "Jack?" The only indication I got that he heard me was that he stopped playing with his knife setting it on the ground. "You accepted that fact that no matter what happened, you weren't going home. Why?" My voice hitched. "Don't you have people who care about you? Don't you have a family?"

"I had a family. No one should have to outlive their own child." He spoke with no feeling but the constant pain that had been ever present in his eyes made sense now.

"I'm so sorry." I got on my knees so we were eye level. "But your men, they don't want to die. These people don't deserve to die. They have families, children." Carefully to see how he would react, I place one of my hands over his. "Help us safe them."

"That wont be easy."

"I know it wont be easy, but its the right thing to do." I said.

He meet my eyes for the first time since I found him, "We'll try."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The day had grown late and everyone was winding down from the whirlwind of events that this day had been. Around the fire sat Skaara, his friends and I. I was resting my still pounding head against the side of the cave. The bandage that Kawalsky had changed a few hours before was itching and was really getting on my nerves. I had caught only one glimpse of my injury earlier in a mirror I had found in Dani's vest. A deep red gash ran the length of my left eyebrow and curved down the side of my cheekbone. My little reminder from where I had hit the sharp edge of the obelisk. What remained of my team treated me like I was made of glass, insisting that they do everything for me, even bring me water. I was grateful for their concern but I drew the line when they tried to hold to bowl for me.

But this wasn't the only thing I noticed that was different. On several occasions I found Skaara staring at me in concern, sometimes even regret. Whenever I stumbled he was always the first there to catch me. What surprised me more was how bereft I felt each time he let go of me. It was strange, I mean we'd only known each other for a few days. And yet he saved my life, saved Daniel and O'Neill and carried me all the way here. .

"Hey Erin," Daniel sat down beside me. "Are you hungry?"

"Oh yeah." My stomach grumbled, it's been almost a day and a half since I'd eaten last.

"I'll get you something." He scooped out some mashed food from bowls set around the fire after they'd finished cooking.

"Dani, you really don't have to..." Across the fire Skaara and Nebeth were snickering to each other, "Skaara?"

He stopped laughing and glanced at me sheepishly.

"_What's so funny?_" Daniel asked handing me the bowl of food.

I was so hungry that I immediately took a mouthful, not caring about how it tasted.

Skaara grinned up at him, "_Husbands don't do this kind of work._"

"What?!" I screeched, which I probably shouldn't have because I almost inhaled my food.

Daniel scrunched his face up in concentration. Suddenly his eyes widened and he met Sha're's gaze. Slowly he rose and walked over to where she had retreated into a makeshift tent.

They were to far away to hear any of the words that they said to each other. Sha're looked away from Daniel and fixed her eyes on the ground sadly. Daniel reached up brushing his hand across her face. He leaned forward and softly kissed her.

Skaara got up and pulled the flap over the entrance to the tent giving them privacy.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The sound of rock scraping on rock woke me late in the night. Skaara was crouched by a wall of the cave carving symbols in to its surface.

Pulling the covers off my legs I stepped around the sleeping bodies to make my way to him.

"_Hi._" I joined him on the ground drawing my knees to my chest.

"_Should you not be sleeping_?" Skaara put down his tools.

"_Shouldn't you be sleeping to_?" I countered.

He took a deep breath before answering. "_I couldn't sleep._"

"_Me neither_." reaching out I ran my fingers across the fresh carving Skaara had made on the wall. "_What are you doing?_"

"_I am drawing the day of our victory_." he said triumphantly old up his tools.

For a few minutes neither of us spoke. Sleep was tugging at my mind, begging me to come back.

"_I am sorry._" Skaara said breaking the silence. The grief he held in his voice jerked me awake.

"_You sorry_?" I asked incredulously. "_For what?_"

"_For this._" He lightly touched my forehead where the bandage covered the gash. He was so gentle that my head didn't give one twinge of pain.

"_My head, you didn't._.."

"_But I was the cause. If I hadn't attacked the guards then you would not have been injured. If I had been quicker_."

I had to stop him. "_Hey, hey. None of this is your fault_." Tentatively I took his hand in mine. When he didn't pull away I continued. "_If you hadn't done what you did O'Neill, Kawalsky, and Feretti would all be dead. And after Ra had his way he would have killed Daniel and I. No one is to blame except Ra. I certainly don't blame you. I never have_."

It was then I realized how close we had gotten. Our faces got closer and closer until just one more inch and... we both leaned forward at the same time and our lips met. He brushed a hand through my hair careful of my bandage.

I never believed in the proverbial fireworks that were supposed to go off when you kissed someone, that was until now. For the moment nothing seemed to matter. It might have been a minute or a few hours and I doubt either of us would have noticed.

"Whoa. _Were'd that come from?_" I whispered when we stopped to breath.

"Uhem." A familiar voice cleared their throat behind us.

Skaara and I jumped apart like we had been electrocuted.

"Daniel." I was gasping for air. Part of the reason was the shock of Daniel's sudden arrival, the other had nothing to do with Dani and everything to do with a certain dark haired boy.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt."

That was an obvious lie. No matter how old I was, he was always going to see me as his little sister.

"What's that?" he asked pointing behind us. Daniel's face was blushing deep purple and he was careful to keep from making eye contact with us. "Wait a minute." he rushed between where we were sitting almost knocking us over, all embarrassment forgotten. He began mumbling to himself, "Connect the moons, this is it, this is the symbols for this planet. We found it." he bellowed wrapping me in a tight hug.

"Jackson, what are you doing?' A newly awaken, and rather grumpy Kawalsky demanded.

"We found it." Daniel repeated a little louder.

"What are you talking about?"

"The seventh symbol, we're going home!"

Deep down I knew I should feel over-joyed at this, but I couldn't help the odd burning pain I felt in my chest when I thought about leaving this place. Ever since we had lost our parents, no place seemed like home, no group of group of people felt right, then we came here.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Ra had doubled the works load of his slaves, punishment for daring to aid his enemies. The people had to work the mines now constantly, no time for rest.

O'Neill had gotten us up at the crack of dawn to do recon on Ra's men at the mines. We now wore hoods to hide our faces as we lifted and hauled the mineral Ra demanded.

Skaara and I were working side by side. As he passed a bucket of ore to me I in turn passed it to the next person in line. One of the guards strode by and Skaara tensed next to me. I ducked my head so guard wouldn't see my face.

A middle aged man carrying a huge hunk of rock, that should have been carried by at least two men, collapsed under its weight. The Horus guard drew his lacerated whip, bringing it down again and again on the screaming men.

"I've had enough of this." O'Neill's lips tuned up in a snarl.

He threw off his disguise distracting the guard. Before he could bring his weapon around O'Neill squeezed the trigger on his gun pumping the guard full off bullets in a weak spot in his side armor. The guard stumbled back clawing at his sides like he could dig out the bullets. Then he fell to the ground, dead.

All the people ceased their work, reminding me eerily of the first day we came here.

With the only threat gone the rest of us pulled of our robes. After I had mine off Skaara took my hand and we started after the rest of the team heading towards the pyramid.

Kasuf plowed though the shocked crowd shouting in panic. "_You will bring disaster to all of us son!_"

Kasuf grabbed Skaara's shoulders trying to force him to kneel on the ground with him.

Skaara shook off his hands, _"Father we will not live as slaves!_"

But Kasuf ignored him. By now all his people had fallen to their knees. Various mumbled prayers of forgiveness were filtering through the air.

"_No! No!._" Skaara continued to shout. "_Get up!_"

"Kasuf." Daniel called to leader uncharacteristically grave. "_Take a look at your gods_." he pressed a button on the guards Horus mask. A metallic clicking sound was accompanied by the mask retracting to show a dark skinned man beneath. "_Take a good look._"

Kasuf's rose to his feet staring down at the dead body that he had moments earlier considered a god.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Here's the plan." O'Neill had us huddled behind a sand dune in front of the pyramid. "Daniel and I will go in with a group of natives, try to take out the guards in the immediate vicinity. Kawalsky, Feretti and Clark will remain outside ready to come in once we have taken out the guards inside. The priory is to intercept that bomb before Ra can send it through to Earth. We clear?"

"Yes sir." his men answered.

"Hey Clark." O'Neill grabbed my arm when I started forward with the rest of the group.

"What Jack?"

"Are you sure you're ready for this?" he waved his hand in the general direction of my head, which still pounded faintly.

"Truthfully, no." I cocked my handgun. "Lets do this."

O'Neill smiled faintly at my enthusiasm. "Move out." He stowed his own weapon under his robe and hefted one side of the cart full of Ra's mineral. Daniel and Sha're each took another peg of the cart. Skaara, myself, and the rest of our team trialed behind.

Two guards were stationed outside the pyramids with their staff weapons trained on us. One of the guards was the Anubis guard who had shot the solider I had tried to save. I felt a hot wave of hate roll through me.

Slowly we made our way up the ramp. The group carrying the cart disappeared into the darkness of the pyramid.

Skaara tiled his head slightly and whispered to me, "_What now?_"

"_Now, we wait for O'Neill's signal. Then we move in_." I took a deep breath to steady my nerves.

Kawalsky and Feretti were adjusting their robes so that they would be ready to throw them off and there was the distinct sound of the safeties on their guns being flipped off.

We didn't have to wait long. Gunfire rang out from inside. Running up the ramp we hefted our guns out and shoot at the opening where a guard stood ready to fire his weapon at us. The bullets bounced off his armor.

A stone door began to lower from the top of the door way. Just as we were about to reach it the guard activated his weapon. I saw energy crackle off the end as the guard took aim at Skaara.

"Skaara!" I screamed and barreled into his back knocking him to the ground. Overhead I heard the blast sizzled the air as it passed above us.

The was a loud thud and the stone door closed, sealing us out of the pyramid.

Skaara got up pulling me with him.

"_Are you ok?_" I asked him, a little winded.

"_I'm fine. Thank you_." He to was breathing hard as he smiled at me.

A screeching electronic buzzing rang out and two black boomerang shaped ships exited from the mother-ship.

"_We must find cover, now!_" Skaara stared at the ships in horror. He grabbed my arm as we ran the rest of the way up the ramp and dove into the limited shelter of the doorway. The ships fired a blast of energy and where we had just been standing exploded in rock and dust.

Blast after blast kept us crouching where we were.

"We have to do something." Feretti screamed over the explosions.

"I've got an idea." Kawalsky stood and looked back at the rest of us. "Cover me!" And he promptly ran out shooting at the ships.

" Cover you?!" Feretti yelled in disbelief at the same time I screamed, "With what?"

"He's gonna get himself killed." Then Feretti followed him along with most of the native boys.

I tried to run after them but as soon as I came out into the open the concussion of a nearby blast knocked me back.

Someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back into the doorway. When the dust cleared I saw that it was Skaara's friend Nebeth.

"_Thanks._" I yelled trying to be heard over the battle.

Suddenly we had to duck to avoid debris when yet another blast came to close for comfort. A huge hunk of rock hit Nebeth in the head, but he was unhurt since he was wearing one of our military helmets. Next time we might not be so lucky.

"_We cannot stay here._" Below at the end of the ramp I could barely make out through the dust a makeshift fox hole where Kawalsky had gathered everyone. "_When I say we have to make a run for it. We need to get to that hole. Stay right by me._"

"_I'm ready._" Nebeth said though he was slightly shaking. Now more than ever was his young age showing.

In the air above the ships were making another pass. I tensed up waiting for the right moment. The ships stopped midair and started to swing back around, "_Now!_" I screamed and I grabbed Nebeth's hand as we barreled down the ramp.

"Nebeth! Airen!"Skaara's panicked voice broke my concentration on the ground I was running on. I looked to him and saw Kawalsky holding him back from running to us.

"What the?" A buzzing filled the air, closer than it should have been. The ships were right over us. I had misjudged how long it should have taken for them to reach us again.

The ramp mere meters from our feet began being ripped apart. There was no where to go except for one path, not the best but it was going to have to do.

I made a snap decision.

Wrapping my arms around Nebeth's waist I threw us off the side of the ramp.

Nebeth's helmet went flying off as a blast propelled forward in midair.

We landed, hard. The soft sand only slightly cushioned our fall.

"_Come on."_ I placed one of Nebeth's arms over my shoulders and helped him up. He was limping slightly as we made our way to the fox hole.

When we got closer I could heard Skaara and many of the other young boys crying in grief. Feretti was firing at the enemy screaming out a string of profanities. Kawalsky just sat staring at his gun in shock.

"What's going on?' I questioned, hefting Nebeth over the sandbag wall and them tumbling over it myself.

They all started when they heard me. Each of their faces we're equal parts shock and joy.

"Erin?" Kawalsky grabbed me into a hug. "You're alive!"

"Aren't I usually?" I laughed patting him on the back.

"Kid!" Feretti called over still firing. "You gave us one hell of a scare."

"Nebeth! Airen!" Skaara rushed to us and wrapped us in a hug.

"_We're fine, we're._.." I stared but was cut off when Skaara crushed his lips to mine. Whatever I had been about to say went out the proverbial window.

"Hey." Feretti shouted sounding somewhat annoyed. "I hate to break this up but were kinda in the middle of a war."

Skaara and I broke apart and he handed my a gun lying one the ground. "Right!" I said taking fire at the ships and the guards that had begun to approach on foot.

Kawalsky's gun stopped firing. "Feretti, you got any rounds left?"

"No!" he shouted when his gun also ran out. "What about you Erin?"

My gun began clicking and the stream of bullets ceased. "Crow! I'm out to." I yelled throwing my gun down.

All our guns were running out of bullets. Skaara's gun, the last one with ammo finally ran out to.

The guards were still getting closer, though the ships had thankfully stopped blasting at us.

"Kawalsky we've got to do something." Feretti said.

Kawalsky rose and stepped out of the fox hole with his arms raised in surrender.

Skaara tried to grab him, "_No, no! What are you doing_?"

"Hey! Hey!" Kawalsky shouted to the approaching guards with his hands up. He knelt down on the ground keeping his arms out at his sides. Slightly waving his right hand in a forward motion he gestured for us to follow his example.

One by one we rose from the fox hole, careful to keep our hands above our heads. We knelt in a line with Kawalsky on my left and Skaara on my left.

The guards kept approaching until they stopped about ten feet from us. They held their staffs trained on us and kept their masks up, making it impossible to discern what they were thinking about doing to us.

Their mechanical masks twisted in an inhuman way side to side taking all of us in. In a swift motion they activated their staffs and energy crackled out ready to fire.

Oh, God. We surrendered and they were still going to kill us.

I felt Skaara grasp my hand tightly and I reached out grabbing Kawalsky's hand. We raised our heads, staring directly at the guards in defiance. If they were waiting for us to cower of beg, they were going to be disappointed.

A battle cry echoed from high on a sand dune in the distance. The guards swirled around.

There was Kasuf yelling with his staff raised high in the air. He turned behind him and waved his staff forward. A line of people all around the pyramid appeared holding axes and pickets and clubs.

Normally these weapons would be useless against a powerful staff weapon. However the guards were outnumbered a thousand to one, and they knew it.

The crowd ran as one towards us, brandishing their weapons. After firing futility at the crowd the guards resorted to swiping at the people with their staffs. In a matter of minutes they had been overpowered by the natives, disappearing beneath the numerous waves of weapons and people. The guards Horus masks were thrown of into the air in triumph.

Skaara grabbed my arm and pulled me atop some rumble where. From there we could see everything. Skaara shouted up at the sky pumping his gun in the air. I couldn't help but laugh, joining him in relief and joy.

A faint shaking rumbled through the ground.

I threw my hands out to keep my balance atop the unstable rumble. I cautiously glanced behind me. Ra's ship was beginning to rise from the pyramid. "_Skaara! The ship is leaving_." I shouted to him.

As everyone noticed the rising ship the elated cried died down until all was silent except for the techno-rumble of the ship.

A horrible thought entered my mind. What if Ra planned to destroy us from above? Surely he had such weapons.

With the ship right above there was nowhere to run. I turned to Skaara and he must have seen my horrified expression.

"_What is it?_"

"_Ra is going to destroy us!_"

Skaara's eyes widened and he wrapped his arms around as we watched in silence the ship getting farther and farther away.

A blinding white light erupted. _This is it._ I tuned my face away, not wanting to see.

"_Airen look!_"

I opened my eyes. The light dulled till only the wreckage of Ra's ship floating space was visible.

"Thank God!" I sank to the ground in relief.

The dust from the battle began to settle. Three figures stumbled out of the pyramid. Jack, Sha're and, "Daniel!" I shouted running to him, carefully maneuvering around the gaping holes in the ramp.

When I reached him I crushed him in a hug. With one arm still around Sha're, he wrapping one arm around my waist tight lifting my feet off the group before putting me down. After he let me got Daniel turned to Sha're. They stared at each other intensely before leaning towards each other kissing passionately.

I felt my cheeks redden, this was a seriously private moment between them. Trying to keep my embarrassment under control I turned to Jack who was grinning ear to ear unabashedly at the two of them.

"So how you doing?" Silly question, but I asked anyway.

"Oh you know, kill the bad guy, free a planet, save the world, same old same old." He answered with a smile that actually reached his eyes for once. The real Jack seemed to be finally emerging.

A booming cheer arose from the thousand of people. Kasuf lead them from atop a bolder. With every cry of victory he pumped his staff in the air.

Skaara had gathered what was left of our team and the boys who had fought with us in the fox hole around his spot upon the rubble where I had left him. Amidst the cheering they grew silent. With swift synchronized motion they raised their right hand over their eyes in a crisp salute to Jack.

If it was possible Jack's grin grew larger as he returned the salute.

Next to me Daniel and Sha're had come back to reality and I glanced at them then back at the people gathered around the pyramid.

"Daniel?"

"Hm?"

"What do we do now?"


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note: I don't own Stargate. This chapter is to follow up the movie and transition the story into the TV series, enjoy.

Chapter 5

In the gate room the blue watery reflection of the activated gate rippled off the sandy walls of the chamber deep within the pyramid.

"I always knew you'd get us back." Feretti clapped Daniel on the back. He probably didn't mean to hit him that hard, but never the less Daniel stumbled forwards.

Daniel laughed in the way he only did with friends, so much had changed these last days. "Yeah right." he joked.

So much _had_ changed. Jack had insisted that I put on all my gear so I'd be ready to go through the gate. I stood apart from the goodbyes on the steps to the gate, my eyes traveling back and forth between the gate home, and a certain dark haired boy who stood far back in the chamber trying not to meet my gaze as I left, possibly forever. I had never considered what would happen if we won, and now that we had I didn't know what to do. I had been so desperate to go home in the beginning, but maybe home wasn't where I thought it was anymore.

"Thanks Daniel." Kawalsky said cheery as he walked past Daniel on his way up to the gate.

Daniel wrapped his arm around Sha're who leaned her head on his shoulder. Already in native clothing, it was clear what Daniel was going to do.

Jack was heading up the steps to the gate and stopped pivoting on one foot to face Daniel, "You sure you wanna do this?"

A smile tugged on Daniel lips and he glanced down at the woman in his arms. Looking back up at Jack he answered, "Yeah Jack, I'm sure."

"You gonna be alright?" Jack asked for the umpteenth time.

"I'm gonna be alright. How bout you?" Daniel's question had more than one meaning.

"Yeah," Jack took a deep breath looking around the chamber, "yeah I think so." He turned back to the gate, admiring the wavy blue surface for a moment. "Okay, let go home."

It sounded so final to me. My heart was pounding and I couldn't breath as I looked up at the gate. My hands were shaking, I looked around the room for a way out, which at any other moment would seem ridiculous.

In my frantic search Daniel caught my gaze. He didn't say anything as we looked at each other. After all the years we've known each other he could tell what I was thinking. With a slight nod of his head he gave me permission to do what I needed to. That was all I needed.

I rushed down the steps and threw myself into the crowd around the gate. They parted like a sea to let me through. I ran until I found my target, and there he stood with shock written all over his face.

"_What are you..._" he started but he never finished. This time I was the one who cut _him_ off.

I had to stand on my tip toes to throw my arms around his neck as I crushed my lips to his. I would have fallen back if he hadn't wrapped his arms around me. After a few minutes we had to stop for a moment to breath. Skaara leaned his forehead against mine grinning wide. He leaned down and kissed me, I could feel him smiling against my lips as he picked me up and twirled my around in a circle.

Whoops and hollers echoed off the walls. The loudest of all was Nebeth. Back towards the gate Jack mumbled something that sounded like, "I had a feeling."

Skaara and I broke apart and ran towards the gate to stand next to Daniel and Sha're.

"So, I guess you'll be staying to?" Jack laughed down at us.

"You betcha." I said smiling up at Skaara.

Our team started to go through the gate, Feretti and Kawalsky waving goodbye just before stepping through the vent horizon.

Jack was the last yet to go, "I'll be seeing you around." He said smiling at us before stepping backwards through the gate.

-Two Years Later-

I sat on Skaara's lap at our evening meal. He held me tight against his chest so I wouldn't fall off as I laughed till my sides hurt. Nebeth, who I had been trying to teach English for the past year, had tried to ask for a bowl of water and instead asked for a "Rowing river."

Skaara, who had become fluent in English quite quickly laughed beside me.

Suddenly Daniel came running in out of breath. In his hands he carried a box of some sort.

"What is wrong Dan'yell?" Skaara asked tightening his arms around me.

Daniel held the box up, for us to see.

"A tissue box?" I scrunched my brows as I looked at the earth object, I wonder where Daniel had found that.

"No." Daniel shook his head, still out of breath and capable of only one word answers.

"Yes." I insisted.

"No."

"Yes."

"No, a message from Jack."

Author's note: From here I will be picking it up with the TV series. I wont do very episode, all ten seasons is enough to blow my mind, but I will do ones that I think my OC would be able to fit into. I'll be sticking pretty close to the original story, with some changes. Stay tuned. :)


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I don't own Stargate. From here this story will be taking place in the TV series. If there's and episode you want to my OC just tell me and I'll try to work it in. Review and enjoy. :)

Clarification:. Erin and Daniel are foster siblings, though Erin sees and treats Daniel as her big brother even though they aren't blood related. This story is two years after the first part where my OC was 19 so now she's 21. I trying to mature her character beyond the first part so she'll be less jumpy and carefree as before.

Chapter Six

Children of the Gods

The gate activated bringing all the conversation in the gate room to a halt.

"Everyone take up your weapons," Daniel shouted, "Take cover and keep out of sight."

I picked up my handgun loading another magazine, "Dani, what if it is Jack?"

"If it is we'll be fine, but if its not..."

"I know." Jack wouldn't have sent us a message if everything was going well. Who knows what was happening.

Sha're ran past carrying one of the many children in her arms. Daniel caught her arm, "Sha're, will you go with Erin."

"Yes husband," she herded the children toward her and Dani's tent"Come children."

I started to follow, "Take care of them Erin." Daniel called to me before taking up position next to Skaara behind one of the great round pillars.

"I will." Skaara caught my eyes. He mouthed "go". I nodded my head before steeping back into the tent.

Kneeling on the ground just inside the tent no one outside would be able to see me while I would be able to see the whole chamber. Aiming my gun at the gate there was nothing left to do but wait.

Out of the watery blue came several men, though clearly dressed in Earth gear, I didn't recognize any of them. Next came a woman who promptly ran down the steps putting her head between her knees like she was going to throw up. I was really starting to get nervous when Kawalsky and Feretti came through followed up by Jack. With a zip the gate shut off.

"I think I'm gonna be sick." The woman called out to her teammates.

Jack came up behind her and playfully patted her on the back, "Maybe you shouldn't have the big lunch eh?"

The Abydonians who hadn't met Jack, Kawalsky or Feretti the first time they came here rushed forwards with their guns at the ready.

Daniel and I ran out to stop them at the same time, "Chahade! Chahade!" I shouted raising my hands up.

"Lower you guns." Daniel said calmly waving his hands down.

Skaara came out from his hiding place to stand beside me. Smiling up at our newly returned friends he reached out so we were holding hands.

"Hello Jack. Welcome back." Daniel went forward to greet him.

However Jack only had eyes for Skaara as he brushed past Daniel.

Skaara snapped to attention saluting Jack. Jack grinned widely retuning the salute. "Skaara!"

"O'Neill!" Skaara grabbed him into a hug. "I did not think to be seeing you again!" He said stepping back holding Jack at arms length.

Jack then turned to me, "Hey Erin." He had to lean far down to give me a hug.

"Hi Jack! It's good to see you." I smiled wrapping my arms around his neck.

When he let go I saw Daniel standing a ways back looking a dejected puppy. Jack finally turned to greet him, "Hey Daniel how you doing?"

"Good. You?"

"Better, now that I know everyone's ok." Jack let out what sounded like a sigh of relief.

"Greetings from Earth Dr. Jackson." Feretti walked down from the steps clapping Daniel on the shoulder. He strode past Daniel and came to me pulling me into another hug. "Hey Kid."

"Hey Feretti!" He picked me up off the ground then putting my down he grinned over at Skaara giving him a quick salute.

Kawalsky approached Daniel next mischief showing on his face. "Brought a little something for you." He handed Daniel a pocket pack of tissues.

Daniel laughed at the little gift in his hands, "Kawalsky! Oh you shouldn't have!"

I laughed to leaning into Skaara when he put his arms around me.

Jack looked between the two of us, "So I assume you two are still..." He said waving his hand back and forth.

"We are betrothed!" Skaara stated proudly grinning down at me.

Feretti's jaw dropped and Kawalsky made a surprised, choking, sputtering sound. I couldn't help but grin at their reactions.

"I guess our kids are all grown up." Kawalsky murmured to Feretti when the shock wore off.

"And I assume my invitation was lost in the mail?" Jack looked a little hurt.

'I wanted to ask you the Shaloke." Skaara said to his surrogate father figure. He had told me of this wish, but with the gate to Earth most likely sealed, the chances of it happening were slim. Now that Jack was back maybe he could get his wish.

"Shaloke?" Jack said confused.

"To stand beside me." Skaara explained.

Jack's face was still scrunched up like he still didn't understand.

"Like a best man." I added.

Jack breathing in relief, "A best man, oh that's good." I don't want to know where his mind went. "I would be honored."

Looking around the chamber everyone was coming out their hiding places. Wait, someone was missing. I tugged on Daniel's sleeve when he walked past. "Dani. I think Sha're is still in the tent."

Daniel glanced at his tent and saw Sha're peeking out, "Sha're is ok, don't be shy" She came out, walking into Daniel's open arms.

"Nice to see you again." Jack grinned charmingly at her causing her to blush.

Daniel began to absentmindedly rub her shoulders, "So I figured it was only a matter of time before you had to tell the truth about us being here."

"Yep. Why the militia? Something else come though here?"

I didn't like the sound of where this was going. For the first time I noticed how many weapons they had brought with them. We were all friends. Surely they didn't need all that?

"NO we're just taking precautions. Why?"

"Wow!" A shouting voice interrupted. "this is what was missing from the dig at Giza, this is how they controlled it. It took us 15 years and ten supercomputers to Macgyver a system for the gate on earth." The woman was standing by the dialing device for the gate pouring over it like it was the most the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen.

"Captain." Jack said quietly.

"Look how small it is." She almost giggled running her hands over the plates holding the symbols for dialing.

"Captain." a little louder.

"Oh, right sorry." She snapped out of it. "Dr. Jackson, Miss Clark I presume. I'm Dr. Samantha Carter." She held out her hand which we both shook.

"I though you wanted to be called Captain." Jack sounded annoyed. Captain Carter just shrugged her shoulders.

"What's going on Jack?" I interjected when it seemed weren't going to get a straight answer as to what was really going on anytime soon.

Jack went military mode"Six hostile aliens came through the gate on Earth, four are death, one missing. "

"One of them looked like Ra." Kawalsky added.

At hearing the name of their former false god everyone stiffed. Sha're glanced up at Daniel, her eyes wide. Skaara next to me glowered.

"Well they didn't come through here. The boys take shifts 36 hours a day very day we would know if they came from here." Daniel said raising a hand to point at our camp around the gate.

"Well they came from somewhere Daniel. We're going to have to take a look around." Jack looked around suspiciously, expecting Ra to jump out of the shadows.

"I think I can help you but it is going to have to wait until after the sandstorm is over." Daniel stated quickly. The storm had picked up shortly after sundown making travel outside impossible. "We were about to have our evening meal why don't you join us?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was a little later in the evening than we usually ate. By now the fire would be almost snuffed out but it still burned strong and hot. We all sat around it eating and catching up on the last two years.

"O'Neill," Skaara handed him a bowl of clear liquid, "try this."

"What's this?" Jack asked taking the bowl, careful not spill any of it.

"Drink." Skaara glanced at me smirking conspiratorially. I had to hide my grin.

Jack held the bowl to his face taking a sniff. His nose scrunched and he jerked his head back, "Moonshine?"

"Moonshine?" Skaara tested the word out. Daniel had never told him the Earth word for it.

"Yeah moonshine, as in boos." Seeing that none of this sparked any recognition from Skaara Jack looked across the fire where Dani sat with Sha're in his arms, "Daniel, what have you been teaching these kids?"

Skaara laughed and slapped Jack playfully on the shoulder, "Try it."

"Alright. Skaara's moonshine. I'll give it a shot." He took a small sip. Jack's eyes flew open as he sputtered out what he had tried to swallow and nearly dropping the bowl, spilling most of what remained in it. "Smooth, very smooth!" He managed between deep breaths.

Skaara clapped his hands and said proudly. "Moonshine!"

"Our little soldiers are all grown up." Kawalsky nudged Jack before taking the bowl to try some himself.

Jack gladly handed it over, barely able to speak. "Yeah, I'm so proud."

I noticed Carter trying to keep from laughing by stuffing some food in her mouth.

Reaching into his robes Skaara pulled out the lighter Jack had given him and handed it to him, "O'Neill, your lighter."

"Oh." Jack said taking the small silver object. He turned it over in his hand in astonishment, "I gave it to you to keep. It's your's remember." Jack handed it back to Skaara.

He took it putting the lighter back in his robe and beaming at Jack. Skaara strode out of the circle towards some of his friends. As he passed me he leaned down to kiss me, "I will be right back."

"Okay." We held hands till we couldn't any longer as he walked away.

"You know," Daniel spoke when Skaara was out of hearing range, "he's never let that out of his sight the whole time you were gone."

Jack was even more surprised, "Really?" He glanced at the front of the chamber where Skaara had disappeared.

"So this man who looked like Ra, he must have come from a different gate." Daniel said changing the subject.

"What gate?" Asked Jack.

"No, the Stargate only goes here." Carter emphasized her statement by jerking her thumb down at the ground.

"You may be wrong about that." I was thinking back to a certain discovery Dani made about a year ago.

Carter persisted, "I was there. We ran hundreds of permutations."

"But you didn't have what you needed."

"Erin, what are you talking about?" Jack said curtly as he did when he wanted info, now. Ahoh, grumpy Jack was coming on.

I took a quick glance at Dani, pleading for help.

Daniel quickly stepped up to explain. "Shortly after you all left Erin and I were exploring when we found something. I...I really can't describe it to you. Your all gonna need to see it for yourselves."

Skaara came running back in at that moment, "Dan-yell, the storm has passed."

"Ah, perfect timing." He stood getting ready to leave. "Erin you coming?"

"No, I'm getting pretty tired. I think I'll stay here."

"I wont be long." He said to Sha're, already walking away.

But Sha're was having none of it. She reached out and spun him around pulling him in for a deep kiss.

When she was done she laughed at Dani's expression. He just stood there with his eyes still closed , "Um...um" He sputtered. Hoots filled the chamber.

Only she could break through his go-get-em archeologist mode and make him forget what he was leaving for in the first place. "Goodbye my Dan-yell."

Daniel finally opened his eyes, "Bye." He brushed his hand across her cheek before leading some of the team out of the pyramid.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"You goota give Daniel credit," Feretti said eying Sha're as she and I walked by, " she is one beautiful woman."

I halted mid-step as Sha're continued on, "Ow come on Feretti," I reached from behind him pushing his ball cap over his eyes, "That's my brother and sister in law you're talking about."

"Sorry Kid." He grinned righting his cap.

I went and sat beside Skaara on a piece of rock. Around us on the ground were some of our younger friends. Yawning, I sleepy laid my head on his shoulder.

"_Are you tired?_" He asked switching to Abydonian.

"_Nope._" I answered yawning again.

"_Goodnight brother_." Sha're was on her way to her and Dani's tent.

"_No kiss?_" He joked making a smoochy face at her.

She pushed his face away giggling, "_Oh behave._"

"_I am behaving._" He looked to me for support. "_Aren't I?_"

"_Oh yeah, completely._" I nodded.

Sha're shook her head at both of us smiling, "_Goodnight you two._"

Without warning the gate started spinning. Each chevron activated within a matter of seconds and the gate whooshed alive.

Suddenly I was wide awake. "Take cover!" I shouted.

Everyone grabbed their weapons and hid behind pillars and inside tents. Taking my arm, Skaara dragged me behind one of the pillars with him. The gate chamber grew deathly silent as we waited for whatever was about to come.

Though the blue water stepped several gray silver armored soldiers similar to Ra's, only these carried a snake-like helmet. The last to come through was also in a snake get up, but where the others were silver and bore weapons, this one was gold and unarmed.

One of the soldiers saw one of the younger boys peeking out from behind his cover and raised his staff. Fire blasted out knocking the boy backwards.

Screams of horror and smoke filled the room. One shot after another blew into the walls, the ceiling, and floor.

"Open fire!" Feretti yelled over the chaos.

Didn't need to tell me twice. Aiming my gun at the closest hostile I fired. Unlike Ra's guards our bullets penetrated their armor, only they didn't seriously hurt them and the just got back up. We were losing, bad.

"_Sha're run!_" Skaara shouted to her while shooting.

She took off from her tent and ran towards the entrance of the pyramid. She had almost made it until on of the soldiers grabbed her around her waist and hoisted her up.

"_No, no get off me!_" Sha're struggled in his grasp.

"_Sha're no!_" Skaara quickly turned to me, "_Stay here, stay quite!_"

He barreled towards them raising his now empty weapon. But before he could reach Sha're another solider caught him around the throat.

It's mask clicked open revealing a dark skinned man with a gold emblem on his forehead. "This is not your weapon, where did you get it?" He held up Skaara's rifle.

Skaara spit in his face. The man scrunched his nose in disgust. Hefting Skaara with one arm he held him before the gold covered snake head.

His mask opened and immediately the man's eyes beneath glowed. _Ra?_ He appraised Skaara like one would a prize cow. It made me sick to my stomach.

"Good choice Teal'c, a perfect specimen." The man's voice reverberated. He grinned raising his hand. On his hand was one of the torture brackets Daniel told me Ra had. A line of orange and red light streamed from the device to Skaara's forehead. He struggled till his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he fell back limp.

I couldn't stay quite any longer. "Skaara! Sha're!" I screamed catching the attention of all the hostiles. Rushing forward from my hiding spot I sprinted towards them.

The last thing I saw before my world went black was the butt of a staff weapon on a collision course with my face.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's note: I don't own Stargate, be cool if I had a Stargate but I don't. Italics in quotations indicates the characters are speaking another language.

Chapter Seven

Hands were shaking me. Couldn't they just let me sleep?

Opening my eyes slowly I saw a dimly lit room full of blurry people. "Oh ow, I gotta stop getting hit in the head."

"Airen." A blurry person moved into my line of sight. Though I couldn't make out their features through the haze, I would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Skaara." I blinked my eyes and his face slowly cleared. "_You're okay!_" I sat up, apparently I had been lying down on some sort of rock.

His arms came around my shoulders to help me up, as did another pair. "_Sha're?_" When I was upright I saw the whole of the room. It was a large dungeon with iron bars on all the widows and doors. The room was full of people in mismatched clothes and ethnicitys. No one seemed to know each other. They were all probably taken from different planets.

"_Where are we?_" I asked.

"_We don't know. We were brought here several hours ago and no one has come or gone since._" Sha're answered.

A loud creaking called everyone's attention to the front of the dungeon. The two thickly barred gates swung open and several guards similar to the ones who attacked us come through with their staffs at the ready.

I only recognized one of them. The dark skinned man with the golden symbol seared to his forehead led the guards.

His eyes scanned the cowering crowd till they settled on Sha're sitting beside me. She looked over at Skaara and I, her eyes full of fear.

The man raised his hand and pointed at Sha're, "Her."

The guards strode forward shoving those unlucky enough to be in their way to the ground.

"Like hell!" I shouted tackling the first guard who dared lay a hand on her. Skaara jumped into the fray punching the face of another and knocking him down.

"Skaara! Airen!" Sha're ran tried to run to us, only to be stopped when two guards each grabbed one of her arms.

Quickly we were overwhelmed. The man I had attacked threw me off him and I landed hard on my back. Skaara was tossed next to me. Several activated staff weapons were pointed at our faces, ready to fire.

Their leader raised his closed fist, stopping them. He stepped up to where we laid looking down at us. "Your deaths can not help her."

The guards pulled a struggling Sha're towards the gate at the front of the room, "I'm not afraid of you!" She shouted bravely.

We were released by them as they followed their leader out. Skaara and I jumped up trying to chase after them.

The rest of the prisoners held us back."Get off me! Get off!" I screamed. I shrugged off my outer robe where they had caught me and sprinted towards the rapidly closing gate. One of the largest men there dressed like a caveman tackled me to the ground.

Skaara had to be held back by several men. We were pinned to the ground until there was a resounding clink as the gate locked in place.

The men released Skaara first. He ran to the gate, pounding on it to no avail. He shook the bars once more before sinking to ground in defeat. Wrapping his arms around his knees Skaara dropped his head to his arms hopelessly.

Slowly I walked up the stone steps. Sitting beside him I put my arm around his shoulders and held him close. "We'll get her back, we'll get her back. We will."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Several hours had passed. Many new prisoners were chucked into the dungeon with the rest of us. Periodically one soldier or another came and took the most beautiful women away. I dreaded to think of their and Sha're's fates.

The rumble of terrified voices and cries drowned out any sort of intelligible conversations the rest of the prisoners might have been having.

Skaara and I huddled in the back of the chamber with a few of the younger prisoners, the youngest was a auburn haired girl barely over fourteen.

As the day went on it got colder and colder. Involuntarily I shivered and pulled my knees to my chest to keep warm. Skaara pulled his outer robe off and draped it over the both of us. After I struggled out of mine earlier it had disappeared among the chaos.

"_Thanks._" I said leaning into his embrace.

"_You should try to sleep._"

"_I don't think I could,_" I looked around at the dozens of fearful people milling about, "_not in this place._"

The gate opened again and more prisoners were dumped in. It had become so common that we hardly glanced up when the gate clunked shut again.

"OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!" a very familiar voice shouted out.

Skaara and I looked at each in surprise. "_Did you hear..._" I started.

"O'Neill!" Skaara jumped up pulling me with him.

We had to squeeze through the crowd to get to where we had heard Jack. But when we got there there was no trace of him.

"There!" Skaara said tugging on my arm. There, towering over most of the prisoners was the distinctive top of Jack's trademark ball cap.

We followed the hat. Pushing around we finally caught sight of him. He was going from person to person questioning them. He didn't look like he was getting anywhere. "Hi, Jack O'Neill. Howya doing? Anyone care to tell me what the hell is going on here?!"

"O'Neill!" Skaara cried out.

Jack spin around looking shocked to actually see us. 'Skaara, Erin. Thank God." He crushed us both into a hug. "After everything today I didn't think I'd see you guys again."

When he released us I saw on his face a sadness I had not seen in a long time. I also noticed that he didn't ask where Sha're was.

"Jack what is it? What's wrong?" I asked but he said nothing. All he did was shake his head like he was in pain.

Skaara glanced at me then he looked at Jack, "Is it Sha're?"

Jack put both his hands on Skaara's shoulders and leaned down so they were looking eye to eye. "I'm so sorry Skaara. Sha're is, she's been... she's been taken by a Goa'uld."

"No, nonono" I could barley whisper.

"But we can still save her. Can't we O'Neill?" Skaara's eyes pleaded with Jack.

"We'll try Skaara." Jack pulled him in for another hug. "It's all I can promise, but I promise we'll try."

"Hey," Jack said like he was suddenly remembering something. "Skaara are you going to be okay." All Jack got was a mute reply. "Come on, there's some people who'll want to see you."

He lead us back towards the front of the chamber. "Well if there's a way out I haven't found it yet. But look what I did find." He called out jerking his thumb back at us.

"Daniel!" I shouted when I saw him sprawled on the ground with Carter trying to help him up. I rushed to him. But when he tried to put his arms around me in a hug he nearly fell back to the ground. "Whoa!"

Skaara appeared on Dani's other side supporting his weight. "Dan-yell are you okay?"

"I think so." he grunted clutching his head. He promptly slid out of Skaara's grasp and fell to the floor.

Jack rushed to catch him, "Easy there big guy. Welcome back to the land of the living."

As Jack straightened himself from crouching next to Daniel an armored hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed his wrist. One of the serpent guards with glowing ruby eyes held Jack in an unbreakable grasp.

"Ow jesh, strong grip." Jack patted the hand holding him with his free hand.

"What is this?" The guard pulled Jacks arms closer to what I could only guess was the viewing port on the otherwise blank part of the mask.

"It a watch!" Jack stated like it was the most common thing in the world. If you didn't know Jack you wound not have been able to see how he was using sarcasm to cover up how truly scared he really felt.

The guard's mask clinked open. It was the dark skinned man again. "This is not Goa'uld technology." He raised his gaze to the rest of us seemingly burning us on the spot with its intensity. "Where are you from?"

Again Jack answered with his trademark sarcasm. "Earth. Chicago if you want to get specific..."

The man, I'm just gonna start calling him Grumpy, had had enough. Grumpy jerked Jack's arm and lifted him off the ground so they were eye to eye. "You words mean nothing! Were are you from?"

"Ah, excuse me." Daniel timidly interrupted.

Grumpy glared at him and lowered Jack back to the ground. Once free, Jack rubbed his wrists to get feeling in them back.

Daniel bent down so he was kneeling on the dirt floor. With two fingers he drew the point of origin for Earth. "We're from here."

The last time we had tried to communicate in this way we had nearly sent a whole city into a frenzy. I hoped for a little less of a reaction this time.

Grumpy's eyes widened in recognition at the symbol. Using the rounded end of his staff he covered the symbol with dirt. For just a moment his eye darted to the people around us like he wanted to make sure no one else had seen. Once satisfied no one had, he snapped his mask shut and plowed his way back to the gate.

"Okay... that was interesting." Daniel commented as he stared dumfounded at Grumpy's retreating back.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Over the past hour or so I dozed with my head Daniel's shoulder with his left arm draped across my shoulders for warmth. As much as I tried to stay awake the fatigue, and the fact that I hadn't slept since I woke up here, finally got to me.

It wasn't a deep sleep. The aura this place put off would never allow it. I could still sort of hear what was going on around me. A while ago Jack had taken off with Skaara to scout out a possible

way to escape.

Daniel and Carter talked softly next to me. Much of what they said was lost to the ever present murmur of voices, but I did catch a few words like "Ra", "Apophis", and "serpent".

Then without warning all sound in the chamber ceased.

"Erin something's happening." Daniel whispered in my ear. Urgently he shook my shoulder to wake me.

The gates swung open and dozens of the serpent masked guards poured in. Grumpy was at the lead. "Kree ho mel Goa'uld!" Holding his arms wide men and women in extravagant and gaudy clothes came through the gates. They appraised the cowering prisoners like they were cattle to be bought.

"What did they say?" Jack whispered.

Skaara's face showed his disgust as he translated, "He said they are going to choose."

"Choose what?" Carter asked in a hushed voice.

"Who will be the children of the gods." Skaara spit out between clenched teeth.

A liter covered in thick sheets of silk and fine cloths was the last to be carried in by six men. It was set down just inside the dungeon so it blocked the open gates.

A gold plated hand emerged first followed by the rest of the man I recognized from when we were captured on Abydos.

He reached his hand into the liter to aid a veiled woman out. "Behold!" his reverberating voice echoed around the walls. "Your Queen!" Gently he lift the veil from the woman to reveal, Sha're!

"Sha're." Daniel surged forward heedless of any danger. "Jack help me!"

Jack and Skaara each had to hang onto one of his arms to keep him from racing to Sha're's side. "Don't don't" Jack said.

I had held some hope for Sha're, regardless of what Jack had said, until Sha're turned her eyes towards us. It might have been Sha're's body, but it wasn't Sha're behind those eyes. There was no recognition from her. None of the warm love she used to radiate, only a cold disgust as she sneered at the wailing people.

"Kneel before your masters!" Grumpy shouted. His men plowed into the crowd forcing everyone to their knees.

Skaara silently took my hand as he stared defiantly at the woman who used to be his sister an the man who had taken her.

When the men reached us they shoved Carter, Jack, and Daniel to the ground. When we refused to kneel Jack looked at us and slightly shook his head in defeat, "Skaara, Erin."

I nodded to show I understood and we slowly joined them on the dirt ground.

Once all were keeling to them the "gods" milled about the dungeon. Some stopped to inspect prisoners closely. Most prisoners were thrown back, but a few were carted out of the dungeon, screaming the whole way.

Grumpy had come to stand close to where we were kneeling. As he watched the scene unfold I expected him to be detached, or even show some satisfaction at the people's suffering. Instead he grew more and more disgusted with each person taken. For a moment, just a moment he glanced up at Apophis in utter hatred. It was only a moment, but it was enough. To my right Jack had also been observing him. Jack's eyes quickly met mine to confirm we had both seen the same thing.

A high pitched squeal pierced my ears from across the chambers. My eyes sought to the source till, with what felt like a punch to my chest, I saw the young girl I noticed early being inspected. _Please not her, not her. _

With a swift nod the couple inspecting her decided, "This one." And the small girl was dragged away just like the others.

"This one has passion." A reverberating voice nearby said.

My breath caught in my lungs and I swung my head around. Daniel held one of them by the arm. There were two staff weapons pointed at him. He didn't notice.

"How much would I remember if you choose me?" Daniel's voice broke and tears streamed down his face. His pleading eyes were locked on Sha're, begging her to show anything of her former self.

"Daniel what are you doing?" Jack warned.

Daniel just continued, "Something of the host must survive."

Small movement out of the corner of my eye drew my gaze to Grumpy. He was barley shaking his head, no. _Oh God._

"We choose..." The voice hesitated, "this one."

I was still looking at Grumpy when two men grabbed my arms and hauled me up. A cold sweat broke out across my skin when I realized they had chosen me. They held me almost a foot of the ground so the man and woman before me could see me better.

I couldn't control my shaking and stuttering breaths.

"No!" Daniel and Skaara both roared. They clawed at the guards trying reach me, only to be beaten back by staff weapons.

"Very beautiful." The man smiled as he pushed my dirty blond hair away from my face. His smile quickly faded and he glared at a spot above my left eye where I knew a thin silver scar ran across my brow and down my cheek.

He growled and with a whisk of his hand I tossed to the ground.

Skaara immediately pulled me up into his arms. His movement caught the eye of the man who had just dismissed me.

He grinned evilly and pointed at Skaara, "Him." And the guards wrenched him out of my grasp.

"Airen! Dan-yell, O'Neill!" Skaara screamed while kicking at his captors.

"Skaara! No! No!" I ran after him but two staffs descended in a "X" blocking my path. Jack came up behind me and caught my flailing arms, keeping them pined at my side to stop me from doing something stupid. With every step Skaara was taken away, my heart was ripped in to smaller and smaller shreds. I looked at the man who had chosen Skaara. He seemed to enjoy my pain. "Take me in his place, please!"

But my begging fell on deaf ears. Skaara's screams continued to get fainter and fainter until they disappeared all together.

My pleas however caught the attention of Apophis. I locked gazes with him. "I'm going to kill you, in the most painful way possible." I spat at him. My voice wavered with anger. I had never felt such hate for anyone before, but if it was the last thing I did I would make him pay.

He merely sneered down at me. "Destroy the rest!" he commanded. Then he entered his liter with Sha're without a glance back.

Screaming broke out as the guards assembled in a line with their staffs pinning us between them and a solid rock wall. The prisoners that were left crowed at the back of the chamber, clawing at the walls for another moment of life.

Jack handed me off to Carter who pulled me and a shell-shocked Daniel to the back with the rest.

Grumpy strode to the center of the chamber where the rest of his troops stood at the ready.

"I can save these people!" Jack shouted at him and Grumpy whirled to aim his staff at him. "Help me! Help me."

Grumpy glared at him and for a moment I thought for sure he would fire on Jack. "Many have said that!" Suddenly he pivoted and shot one of his own men. After shooting down another he tossed his staff to Jack. "But you are the first I believed could do it!"

The guard's ranks were diminishing quickly. Blasts of red fire flew around the chamber, some hitting unlucky bystanders.

After being hit in the chest, one of the guards stumbled towards where Carter, Daniel, and I have taken cover. With a thud he fell to the ground and his staff rolled till it hit my foot.

Snatching it up I took aim and fired at the guards Jack and Grumpy had missed. One had been about to take out Jack from the back when a blast from my staff collided with him, knocking him down.

"Erin what do you think you are doing?!" Daniel shouted over the roar of the battle.

"What's it looked like I'm doing?!" I yelled back while taking out another guard.

The rapid blasts ceased and Jack waved his hand at the crowd, "Hey! Get out of the way!" And they scrambled away from the back wall.

Seeing that he intended to blow a hole in the wall I aimed my weapon on the same place and fired. After several hits a hole big enough for three or so to go through at a time was formed.

"Come on let's go!" He shouted at the crowd and they poured out of the whole into a forested area.

As Daniel and I were about to go through Jack caught us, "You are going to be okay?"

Daniel just stared at Jack blankly before flowing with the rest out of the hole.

Jack then turned to me, "No, I'm not okay." I glanced at Daniel's retreating back and sighed. "We're not okay." I tossed my staff to the ground. Back in the chamber Grumpy was chucking off some of his armor. "What about him, Jack?" I jerked my chin in his direction.

"Hey come on!" Jack shouted at him and waving for him to follow.

Grumpy raised his arms, gesturing at the fallen guards and destruction around him, "I have no where to go."

Jack called to him again and waved his hand at the dozens of freed people escaping into the woods. "For this you can stay at my place."

Grumpy gripped his staff tightly and headed out of the hole, hesitating when he came to us.

"What's your name?" Jack asked.

"Teal'c."

We started walking again. The escaped prisoners were getting dangerously far into the forest. I had the feeling that if we lost sight of the group we'd never be able to find them again.

"Where will they take Skaara, the boy?" Jack said while picking up the pace to a slow run.

The newly dubbed Teal'c looked around the forest for threats. "Through the Stargate. After they have selected hosts for their children they will return home."

Coming around a corner we saw Carter and Daniel waiting for us with a significantly smaller group of survivors than I remembered.

Jack took out his watch and checked it quick, "We got less tan an hour before Hammond seals the gate. How we doing?"

"We lost a few when we got deeper into the woods." Carter reported.

"What's going to happened to them?" I asked looking to Teal'c who was the most likely to know the answer.

"They will be hunted down and killed." He said gruffly. "Any who do not serve the gods are their enemy."

"So that makes you..." Jack tossed his hand up at him.

"I am a Jaffa, bred to serve so that they may live."

Daniel looked at Teal'c numbly. "I don't understand." His need to understand and learn seemed to overriding the shocked part of his brain so he could cope.

Teal'c had been walking in front of me, so when he ceased walking without warning I plowed into his back. His arm shot out and grabbed Skaara's outer robe that I still had on and pulled me up so I was once again vertical with the earth. After he was certain I would not fall he backed away.

Teal'c reached his hand toward a slit in his armor that formed an "x" over his abdomen. The he reached his hand into his stomach!

I resisted the urge to hurl when he pulled away a flap of tissue so we could see into a dark gaping hole in his abdomen, like a marsupial's pouch. Only instead of a cute baby kangaroo, a white slimy worm-like creature peeked it's head out.

Everyone who could see jumped away from Teal'c, a few even screamed.

The worm thingy squealed in displeasure before retreating.

Jack's hand flew to his mouth like he was gonna be sick. "What the hell is that?!"

Teal'c replaced the cloths and armor covering the slits in his stomach. "An infant Goa'uld, the larva form of the gods. I have carried one since I was a child, as all Jaffa have."

"Get it out of there!" Jack ordered.

"In exchange for carrying an infant Goa'uld to maturity, a Jaffa receives perfect health and long life. If I were to remove it, I would eventually die."

"If I were you," Jack walked by Teal'c patting him on the shoulder. "I'd take my chances."

In the distance the top of the Stargate finally came into sight. A familiar humming radiated through the air.

"Take cover!" I shouted as I dove under a bush with Jack and Teal'c.

A ship hovered overhead and came to a stop above the Stargate. The bottom of the ship opened and a set of rings flew down and stacked atop each other. A beam of light traveled from the ship to the waiting rings materializing the group of "gods" and their chosen, who were strangely not fighting their captors. A second group was beamed down and with them was Skaara.

"Skaara." I whispered watching him. He stood by the man who had chosen him calmly and obediently. The Skaara I knew would never have given up or allowed himself to fall under another false god's control, he would have fought to his last breath. "Jack." Jack put down the binocular he'd been looking through and turned his head toward me. His concerned expression matched my own. "Jack, something's wrong."

Teal'c gently but firmly placed a hand on my shoulder and looked me in the eyes like he was about to deliver bad news. "The boy you knew is no longer who he was."

"I don't wanna hear that." Jack said in a clipped tone. "She doesn't want to hear that."

The ship beamed down a final group. Apophis and Sha're stood in the center surrounded by at least a dozen of his guards. The guards expanded into a larger circle surrounding all the "gods" while Apophis headed to the dialing device and started to input an address.

More humming came from overhead as gliders swung down low over our position.

"Get down!" Jack shouted at the refugees.

A group had just enough time to dive out of the way as a blast from one of the gliders exploded the ground where they had just been standing.

"Colonel we've been made." Carter was shielding a couple of young children from flying debris. "We're sitting ducks here! We..." The rest of her sentence was drowned out by a torrent of weapons fire as the gliders took another pass at us.

It was like a flashback to all those years ago on Abydos when we defeated Ra. Blast after blast rocked the ground with no end in sight. The screaming people were scattering in all directions, which made them easy targets.

The humming was closer than ever and looking up I was staring down the muzzle of a glider.

Suddenly the left wing of the glider burst in to flames. With one wing gone gravity did the rest by dragging the glider to the ground where it erupted, exploding shards of metal in ever direction.

Up on a hill stood Kawalsky holding a smoking rocket launcher surrounded by several marines outfitted with machine guns.

Jack stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth the amplify his voice. "Come on people, up the hill. Run!"

Teal'c held out his hand to help me up. "Thanks." I said. He grabbed my forearm and hauled me up and dragged me up the hill.

When we reached the top Kawalsky smiled, happy to see me. He eyed Teal'c suspiciously but said nothing.

"Erin, it's good to see you Kid." Hefting the launcher in one arm he clapped me on the back.

"Nice shot."

Jack came up beside us huffing from running up the hill. "How many are there?" he tilted his head in the direction of the gate.

"About a dozen surrounding the Stargate. We don't have much time before they lock us out."

Kawalsky replied.

If we didn't make it back to Earth in the next ten minutes we'd be stranded here with no way home.

We climbed up the side of another hill. Coming over the top I saw the gate with a dozen of so Jaffa surrounding it. In the circle of stone steps around the gate stood Skaara with the couple who'd taken him about to go through.

"Stop!" Jack roared at them. He slid down the steep incline and raced toward the gate.

"Colonel, sir!" Kawalsky shouted after him. I moved to follow Jack but Kawalsky tried to grab my arm, and missed. "Erin get back here!" But I was already running beside Jack.

All the commotion caught Skaara's attention and he stepped away from the gate, waiting for us at the edge of the platform. He smiled as we approached.

_That smile._ Skaara had never looked so, cruel. I stopped in my tracks while Jack kept on running past me, though I didn't really notice. My eyes were fixed on Skaara. Just like with Sha're, there was nothing in his eyes. "Skaara." I breathed out his name, but I could not find him any where in the man that stood before us.

Skaara, It, raised his hand and a pulsating red glow came from a bracelet wrapped around his palm.

I tried to warn Jack as I ran to him, "Jack!" I screamed, to late.

Skaara's eyes glowed and a pulse flew through the air and plowed into Jack. He went flying backwards colliding with me and knocking all the air out of both our lungs We connected with the ground and to add insult to injury, Jack's weight crushed me before he could roll of.

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Skaara glance back once as he stepped through the gate before it shut off. He was gone.

"Jack! Erin!" Daniel shouted as he and the rest of the refuges caught up with us. "Did you see the symbols?"

I just stared at the gate, hoping against hope that it would turn back on and Skaara and Sha're would come back through it, like nothing had ever happened and it was all just a bad dream. _Please let this be a dream. _

"Did you see them?" Daniel repeated.

Jack looked over at him and shook his head soundlessly.

"We got hostiles approaching! I repeat we've got hostiles approaching." An unfamiliar voice called over the radio. Back at the hill a line of marines were positioned on the ground with their weapons aimed at the forest.

Kawalsky waved all the refuges over, "Okay people we're going on a little field trip. Daniel," he looked at me sympathetically,"Erin get to work on that Stargate, we got company. Captain Casey and I will be the last ones out."

"Negative." Jack stood. "That's my job. Captain Carter help Daniel and Erin. Once you send the signal through tell them we're bringing company!"

"Yes sir." Carter quickly saluted him.

The three of us sprinted toward the gate. When we reached the dialing device Daniel dug a small notebook out of his vest. My eyes roved over the device, some of the symbols looked familiar as the address for Earth.

"Dr. Jackson!" Carter urged.

Daniel frantically flipped through his notes, "I know I know, I have it."

Kawalsky's voice echoed over the radio, "Sir, we got hostiles coming out of the trees."

"Come on!" Carter anxiously began jumping in place.

Putting together the pieces of the puzzle and trying to drown out the sound of battle was not an easy task. Finally one of the symbols caught my eye, suddenly it made sense.

"Daniel." I shouted over the blasts and punched the first symbol in Earth's sequence.

"I see it to!" And Daniel began dialing the rest of the symbols. "Send the signal as soon as it open Captain."

Carter pulled pager-like device out of her sleeve and pressed in a code.

"Is it working?" Daniel glanced back and forth between the gate and the device on Carter's arm.

"I hope so. If not I'll be the first to know." and she ran up the steps and threw herself through the gate. Her voice came through the radio on Daniel's vest. "Send them through."

"Come on everyone!" I shouted to the refuges waving my arm forward.

Many of them were injured and bleeding as they tumbled through the gate. More gliders arrived and began firing down at us. One swept down close to the ground and blew away a few of the stranglers. One last group was running up the steps when a blast sent them flying. A small girl landed in the dirt next the platform, her mother screamed her name.

"Daniel, get them through the gate." I ordered him. He put the mother's arm around his shoulders and hauled her up the steps.

Running around the side of the gate platform I found the girl with a deep gash on her leg. "I got you." I said as I picked her up and she wrapped her arms around my neck.

Another pass of the gliders brought more rounds of earth shattering fire. The ground shook while I stumbled up the steps with the girl in my arms. Daniel was waiting just this side of the gate, apparently already sending the rest through.

As I approached he took the girl from me. "That's it. Let's go!" He said grabbing my arm and throwing us through.

As I remembered there was a cold rush, then we came out the other side. A bald man in a military uniform and Carter were waiting for us when we stepped through the gate back on Earth.

The mother of the girl raced up the ramp and clutched her daughter to her chest. She mouthed, "thank you" before joining the rest of the refuges who had crowed towards the back of the gate room.

"They behind you?" Carter asked.

I glanced back at the still water of the gate. "I hope so."

The water rippled and the huge man dressed like a caveman followed by Teal'c came through. Suddenly all the guns in the room were trained on the two ready to pump them full of bullets.

"Hold your fire!" Daniel, Carter and I yelled simultaneously.

The bald man waved his hand indicating for everyone to lower their weapons.

Finally Jack fell through caring a dazed Kawalsky. "Now! Lock it up! Lock it up!"

Several sharp plates of steel swirled out from the inner ring of the gate and clinked together forming a single barrier over the event horizon. Dull thuds came from what could only be something hitting it. With a zip the gate shut off.

"Wormhole disengaged." A voice called over an intercom.

"Colonel O'Neill, care to explain?" The bald man walked up the ramp, careful to stay out of the way of med teams working on the injured.

Jack patted Kawalsky on the back in concern. Only after Kawalsky nodded, indicating he was fine, did Jack answer the man's question. "We can use the Stargate to send these people home."

The man glared over Jack's shoulder at Teal'c. "What is _he_ doing here?" He said like he recognized Teal'c.

Jack walked up to Teal'c and placed his hand on his arm and stated proudly, "General Hammond this is Teal'c. He helped us."

But the General would not be swayed, "You know what he is?"

"Yes sir I do. He is the man who saved all our lives." Then Jack shocked everyone, Teal'c most of all. "And if you follow my recommendation he'll join SG-1."

The General stared at him dumbfounded for a moment before gathering his wits. "That decision may not be up to you."

Further up on the ramp Kawalsky caught my attention when he nearly tumbled to the ground clutching his head. I went to his side and wrapped my hands around his arm helping him up. "Kawalsky, you alright?"

He waved me off. "Yeah Kid, I'm good."

The General seemed like he was about to say something, then thought better of it. He just sighed wearily. "Colonel O'Neill, Kawalsky. This is sure to be an interesting debriefing, we'll start at oh-seven thirty hundred."

"Yes sir." Chorused Jack, Kawalsky and Carter.

After all the med teams and the refuges had been filled out the gate room, our group still stood on the ramp.

Daniel gazed longingly at the up at the Stargate, "She's still out there, somewhere."

Something clinked in Skaara's robe that I still had on. Reaching into a pocket I pulled out his zippo lighter. The sight of it brought tears to my eyes and I clutched it to my chest. Coming up beside Daniel I took his hand in my free one and pulled him into a hug. "So is Skaara." I said resting my jaw on his shoulder.

"What are we going to do?" Daniel's voice wavered and he buried his face in my hair.

A hand came down on my arm causing Daniel and I to part. Jack met both of our eyes and gave us a small smile. "We find them."

Author's Note: I hope you liked. Next up, "The Enemy Within"


	8. Chapter 8

Author's note: Again I don't own Stargate or do any of this for profit. I'd like to thank all of you for reading this and for the reviews that I've gotten I hope that you all review some more soon. I'd love to hear from you!

Chapter Eight

"The Enemy Within"

_Thud. Thud. Thud._ The knocks on my door were getting more insistent by the minute. "Erin?" Jack's voice called tentatively from the other side of the thick metal door of my barrack.

I pulled Skaara's robe closer to where I was curled up on the uncomfortable bed that sat in the center of the concrete walled room. The General hadn't know what do do with Daniel and me after the chaos of the last mission had settled down. We didn't have anywhere to go so we'd been set up in temporary rooms on base. For lack of a better word, it felt as cold as a prison cell.

_Thud._ "Erin?" Jack knocked again.

Sighing I sat up. "It's open."

Jack opened the door and stuck his head in. "How are you?"

"Just dandy, you?" I snapped.

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I groaned running my hand through my uncombed hair. Standing I stumbled to the set of drawers that was the only other fixture in the room and pulled out the top drawer and stuffed Skaara's rode inside. Other than that and a set of military fatigues it was empty. "I'm not mad at you. I just haven't slept since, I don't remember."

"Are those?" Jack gestured to the robes in closed the drawer.

I took a deep breath. "Yeah. It's funny, a few days ago he was right next to me happy and free. Now that's all that I have left of him."

"We'll find him."

I unbuttoned my jacket and tossed it on the edge on my bed. "I wish I could believe that Jack."

Jack's eyes scanned the barren floor like he was thinking really hard about something. His head popped up suddenly and he looked at me excitedly. "You know what, come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"The control room." Jack glanced at his watch. "There's a mission briefing in about ten minutes, and we don't want to be late, now do we?" He grinned at mischievously.

Shaking my head at him I plopped down on the bed and took Skaara's lighter out of my pocket. Recently I had taken to absently turning it over and over in my hands. "Why would I go there? I haven't been assigned anywhere yet. In fact, I don't think the General even wants me here. "

Jack strode the rest of the way into my room and sat down next to me. "Well I'm here to officially inform you that I've submitted my request that you be allowed to join SG-1. That is, if you want to."

I looked him the eyes to see if he was kidding, and seeing he wasn't I nodded. "I do. I need to get back out there, do something." If I stayed in this room any longer I just might lose it.

Jack patted my knee and jumped of the bed. "Then let's get going." Then Jack stopped short and narrowed his eyes. He was looking at my hands and I noticed that I was still fiddling with the zippo. "Skaara's lighter?"

"Oh, yeah, it was in his robe when he gave it to me." I glanced down at the small dented piece of metal then back at Jack. "If you want it back..."

Jack cut me off. "No no, you hang onto it. Skaara's gonna need it back _when_ we find him. And you know me, I have trouble finding my shoes sometimes, even when their on my feet." I appreciated Jack's optimism, even it it was a little forced.

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We reached the control room for the pre-mission briefing, abet ten minutes late due to a little side trip to the commissary. Jack had found out that I hadn't eaten in about a day and a half and had tried to temp me with a chocolate chip cookie. I had reluctantly swallowed it to please him, but for all the chief's effort and Jack's encouragement, everything I put in my mouth tasted like sawdust. Once satisfied that I wasn't going to drop dead from hunger, Jack had looked at his watch. Then with a start he had grabbed my arm and we were raced to the meeting.

Our entrance interrupted the General mid-sentence which earned Jack a withering glare, while Kawalsky just grinned. If the General was surprised by my presence he didn't show as he went right back to the briefing.

Not sure if this was a good thing or not I sought out the only place I felt remotely safe in this foreign setting, which was right next to Daniel. He smiled at me reassuringly as I came to stand next to him. Under his eyes were dark, deep circles that showed that he had slept about as much as me the last few days and he cradled a coffee cup like it was his one salvation. It pained me that he had to go through this, but at least we had each other.

The General prattled on in the background, most of it was technical talk that went way over my head. Only when he got to the upcoming missions did anything begin to coalesce into something that resembled English. "Gentlemen, these planets designated P3-575 and P3A-577," He used a pointer to indicate two dots on a translucent starmap, "Have been submitted by Captain Carter's team as possible destinations for your next missions." The General turned from the map and addressed Jack and Kawalsky. "SG units one and two will operate currently."

Jack tapped Kawalsky on the shoulder, "You know, I'm kind of partial to P3-575 if you don't mind taking P3A-577."

Kawalsky shook his head and placed his hand on Jack's shoulder to cut him off, "No, I'll take 577."

Jack laughed a little and put his hands up in mock surrender. "I'm not married to it."

By this point the General was staring at them open mouthed. He turned to Carter for help and she just shrugged. Then he whirled to face Daniel and I. I didn't know what he wanted or expected us to do so I did the only thing I could, I just shrugged. The General sighed in frustration.

Jack and Kawalsky seemed completely oblivious all this.

"I want to be fair about it. How about we flip for it?" Jack was already reaching into his pocket for a coin.

The General had had enough and stepped between to two officers, breaking them up. "How about you go where I tell you? As for as I'm concerned..." That's as far as he got before the base was flooded with flashing emergency lights and alarms.

"Alert! Inbound traveler! Repeat! Inbound traveler!" The now familiar voice and phrase echoed over the loudspeakers.

"Damn those Goa'ulds are persistent." Kawalsky commented as the iris slid into place around the Stargate. Soldiers ran up the ramp with their machine guns at the ready and all the rail guns were pointed at the gate.

"I think we might have insulted a god or two on our way out." I murmured. Jack looked at me out of the corner of his eye, smirking.

The General leaned into the com and spoke so his voice superseded the alarms. "Alert! All defense teams standby." He covered the mic with his hand and faced the lieutenant at the computer. "Set the base auto destruct countdown at three minutes."

The gate stopped spinning and there was immediately several loud collisions in the iris. Once the iris bowed out like it was about to blow inwards, but luckily it stayed in place.

Kawalsky signed and rubbed the back of his neck grimacing in pain. "We're not going anywhere as long as the Goa'ulds keep up these attacks."

"Well they can't keep this up forever." I said. Off Jack and Carter's unsure expressions. "Can they?"

The loudest thud yet rang out from the gate and the iris came apart for a moment so the blue light of the event horizon was visible before it snapped back into place.

"Whoa!" Jack flinched back.

Carter leaned over a computer monitoring the gate's output."Well, once they realize our gate's impenetrable, they should just give up."

"So this iris is going to hold, right?" Daniel came up beside Carter and eyed the gate warily.

She nodded, "Pure titanium. Less than three micrometers from the event horizon. It wont even allow matter to fully integrate."

"So it it going to hold _right_?" I repeated Daniel's question leaning next to him.

"If it doesn't, the fail safe device will detonate, this whole mountain will vaporize, and there'll be nothing to worry about." She said just a bit to cheerily.  
My eyes went wide, "Oh, well that's a, a relief."

The gate finally shut down. The General spoke into the com. "Radiation teams move in."

"Team reports all clear sir." The lieutenant reported.

"Alright, stand down and abort the countdown." The General entered his code into the computer.

I wont lie that it was nice not to see those big red letters ticking off the seconds until we were all vaporized.

From behind me came a pained groan. Kawalsky was massaging his neck.

Jack noticed to "Kawalsky, what's the matter?"

He looked up at Jack and waved him off. "Just a headache. Took a fistful of aspirin but nothing seems to help."

"Go down to the infirmary and get yourself checked out." Jack ordered.

"Yes sir I think I'll do that." he turned to the General and saluted him. "Sir, with you permission."

The General returned the salute. "By all means major. I need you to lead you team to P3-575."

Kawalsky lowered his hand and as he left he brushed past Jack. They both bore identical smirks that their ploy had worked.

As everyone else filed out of the room Jack remained behind. I walked up to him and nudged his arm playfully. "I see what you did there."

He just looked at me innocently. "I have no idea what your talking about." He tilted his head up at the stairs that the General had retreated to moments before. "Hammond wants to see us."

Trudging up the stairs and waiting outside Hammond's office made me feel like I was back in grade school and the principal had just asked to see me in private.

"Should I knock, or should you?" I asked Jack, unsure how things were supposed to go on a military base.

The General must have heard us for the next thing we heard was his commanding voice that allowed no questions, "Come!"

Jack opened the door and let me go in first. Either he had suddenly become polite overnight or, he was throwing me to the wolfs first.

The General sat behind his desk looking up at with a face devoid of emotion. "Ah Colonel, Miss Clark, please have a seat." He gestured to two chairs arranged in front of his desk. I sat in one but Jack remained standing.

A shield around the General seemed to slip a bit as he rested his head in his palms. "I understand how Kawalsky feels, this job gives me a headache to."

Jack picked up his bad mood and went straight to the point. "What's the bad news General?"

Hammond jerked back in surprise. "Not much for small talk are you Colonel?"

If Jack hadn't been talking to a General I knew he would have been rolling his eyes. "How was your weekend? Get any fishing in?" He said without humor.

I stuffed my hand in my mouth to keep from choking on my air. Jack had become really candid the last two years.

Hammond's eye twitched, but other than that, he didn't respond to Jack's question. "Miss Clark will be allowed to join SG-1. Though you should know that she had her objectors to even her being allowed on the base, given her age and lack of a college degree. But, since she was instrumental in your defeat of Ra and your most recent mission she has convinced most that she could be a capable member of you team."

None of this was truly surprising to me, except the part that I actually was being allowed to join Jack's team.

Jack narrowed his eyes at the General. "And the bad news, sir?"

"I'm rejecting you request to have Teal'c join SG-1. Wasn't my choice. A Colonel Kennedy," The General spat his name like it left a foul taste in his mouth. "is en-route from the Pentagon right now. He'll be asking your friend some, some questions." The way he said it made me think that no actual questions were going to be involved.

"They want to experiment on him." I said through gritted teeth.

I jumped to a conclusion, which Hammond confirmed with a nod of his head. "Maybe you haven't noticed but he is the first living alien we've ever come across. Don't you think that qualifies you friend as a subject of scientific interest?"

"No." I responded flatly at the same time Jack scoffed, "A _subject_?!"

"He is what he is." Hammond stated plainly.

I was about to retort, but Jack beat me to it. With each word his voice rose in anger. "With all due respect, sir. I don't think he saved our lives or the lives of y team to become a damn guinea pig for U.S military intelligence." By this point he was practically shouting.

"Back up Colonel." Hammond snapped with enough authority to make Jack shut his mouth on whatever he was about to say. "This man switched side once, are you 100% positive he wont do it again?"

Jack looked him dead in the eyes. "Yes sir."

"Well you are alone in that assertion. As long as Teal'c is present on this base I promise that he will be treated with the utmost respect and dignity. Beyond that I can't promise a thing." He abruptly stood from his chair, "Dismissed."

I guess that was the end of that meeting.

We exited the General's office. I guess Jack figured I'd be following him because he gave a quizzical look as I started back toward the briefing room. "Where you headed?" he asked.

"The General has Daniel, Carter and I briefing the other SG teams on the basic operation of the Stargate. Well, actually the General has Daniel and Carter doing that, but they asked me to assist."

"Okay." Jack patted my shoulder. "Just get some rest at some pint to day. You can stay awake forever."

I shrugged and let out a sigh. "I can try." I started down the steps waving behind me. "See you later Jack."

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The briefing room was now full of twenty year old something marines and air force officers. They each held a detailed report Carter and I compiled on the Stargate and the planets we've visited so far, as in two.

A few looked up as I tried, unsuccessfully, to sneak into the meeting. Shuffling next to Daniel I made my face as apologetic as I could. "Sorry."

"We were just getting started." He whispered to me. Then facing the men he addressed them while pointed to a diagram set up on the board full of chitchats and graphs. "So this device," He gestured to drawings and photographs of the dial home device. Should be on every planet we visit. We," Daniel glanced at me. "studied the one on Abydos for months. It's sort of like a...a...a" He searched for the right word.

"Telephone." Carter and I suggested at the same time. We looked at each other and had to stifle a laugh.

Daniel smiled at us. "I like that. Telephone. In order to get back home all you have to do is..." He hesitated and strode slowly to the glass widows of the briefing room overlooking the Gate room. "dial Earth. Which is uh... Which is what were here to talk about so...What is Major Kawalsky doing in the Gate Room?"

"What?" I asked coming to stand beside him. And there he was. Kawalsky was standing with his back turned to us midway up on the ramp leading to the Stargate with his arms outstretched.

Carter looked down at him then glanced at us with concern written all over her face. "page Colonel O'Neill and General Hammond to the Gate room now!" She told one of the lieutenants.

"Yes Ma'am."

We filed out of the briefing room and down the stairs to the Gate room. As Daniel, Carter and I came through the blast door on one side Jack and Hammond walked in from the other side.

Kawalsky was still standing on the ramp, seeming oblivious to everyone else in the room.

"Charlie?" Jack called him by his first name.

He jerked like he was just waking up and swiveled his head around in confusion. Lowering his arms he face us. "Jack? Guys?" He glanced at out faces in fear. "What am I doing here?"

"Colonel O'Neill." Hammond addressed Jack while eying Kawalsky warily. "Will you take the major to the infirmary."

"Yes sir." Jack walked up the ramp and took Kawalsky by the arm. "Come on, lets get you checked out."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Half and hour later I was wondering aimlessly around the halls of the base. I swear, each corridor seemed just like the last and the one before that. Even if I had years I don't think I would ever be able to fine my way around.

Faintly I could hear running steps behind me but I didn't pay much attention. I was thinking hard about trying to not think hard about what had happened with Skaara and Sha're. It wasn't working. I kept replaying over and over the moments leading up to Skaara being taken and what I could have done differently.

So of course I wasn't watching were I was walking. And of course when a hand unexpectedly slammed down on my back, I shrieked and plowed face first into a wall.

The recursive force of hitting the wall sent me flying backwards and I landed hard on the floor. "Ow." I said rubbing my head. "Who put a wall there?" throwing my hand up at the offending wall. Someone was laughing a very familiar laugh. "Thanks Jack."

Still laughing he leaned down to help me. "I though you were over this whole, jumpy clumsy bit."

Once I was steady on my feet again I glared at him. "Yeah, well so was I."

"You must have been really think hard about something." Jack said. I furrowed my brows. "I've been calling you name and chasing you through the halls for about two minutes."

"Oh geez I'm sorry. What did you want?"

"They are about to start questioning Teal'c. Way I figure its gonna become a proverbial trial unless we drop in."

"You mean crash the meeting?" I asked.

"More or less, you in?"

"Lead the way." I nodded. Jack waved for me to lead. "I mean literally lead the way, I'm lost."

"Ah." Jack jerked his head and lead me down the hall I had just came from.

He took a crazy amount of twists and turns that I didn't even bother to memorize. Somehow all that managed to get us back to briefing room.

As we came up the steps we heard the last of Teal'c answer to what I assumed was a question about technology.

"Knowledge about Goa'uld magic is forbidden." Teal'c said calmly and without emotion.

"It's not magic Teal'c" Was my automatic response. I had heard that line so many times on Abydos when I tried to explain things that the response had almost become second nature. Unfortunately a whole room full of high ranking military personal now knew that they had eavesdroppers. I slapped my hand to my mouth,_ great Erin, really great. _

Jack quickly covered for me. "They just want you to think that." He saluted Hammond. "Permission to barge in General."

Hammond nodded for the two of us to join him and another, less friendly man at the table.

The man sneered as we took our seats. "Colonel O'Neill. I was hoping to meet you. Your mission report from Chulak made for the most engrossing analysis of my career." As then man looked from Jack to me I couldn't suppress a small shiver. "Ah Miss Clark." He grunted out my name and scowled down at me. "That fact that you are even present on this base goes against my recommendation. If I have my way, and I usually do, when I'm threw with you, you wont even be able to get a job dusting historical books in a library am I clear."

I gulped. So this was one of my objectors that Hammond had been talking about. He was a lot more, unpleasant than I expected.

Hammond's gaze snapped to the man, pinning him with a warning glare. "Colonel Kennedy, perhaps this is not the time."

"Of course sir." He put on the best, fake smile. "Please join us."

The way he could change his outward emotional appearance in the blink of an eye was disarming. I was not going to like this man. Nope, not at all.

This Colonel Kennedy went back to questioning Teal'c who sat, alone, at the other end of the long table. "Well, what can you tell me about the Goa'ulds than I may be able to use?"

_Me?_ _I?_ Like he was the only one who has or ever will fight them. Jack scoffed, he had caught the Colonel's wording as well.

Teal'c began mater-of-factly, "They rule by force. Their numbers were once very few, but they are growing."

"How many worlds do the control?" Kennedy interrupted.

"Many hundreds, perhaps more."

"And should we expect to encounter them everywhere we go?" Kennedy cut him off again. Man this guy is such an ass, pardon my French.

Jack leaned over to Hammond and whispered. "We?" To which the General just shook his head for Jack to shut up for the moment.

Teal'c continued, only a raised eyebrow to acknowledge Kennedy's rudeness. "It is possible. But there are many worlds that the Goa'ulds have no use for. On those worlds the people are left to starve, fend for themselves."

And what do you know, Kennedy broke in again. For someone who wanted information he had a funky way of getting it. "Is there a leadership with which we could negotiate?"

"Oh please." I thought. Off Kennedy's glare, "Sorry." At least I thought I hadn't said it out loud.

"Some like Apophis," My fists clenched as Teal'c mentioned the man who took away most of my family. "are great kings who rule over many worlds as their gods. They have no need for peace. If they could kill you, they would."

"Could they? They have space craft, right?"

"Yes. But with out a Stargate the journey could take may months, perhaps years. It would take many vessels and many slave armies."

"Were not that much of a nuisance, just yet." Jack interjected.

Kennedy promptly ignored him. "These slaves, where do they come from?"

Teal'c sighed like he was about to begin a long story. "There is tale of a primitive world the Goa'uld discovered a millennia ago. The Tau'ri. The First World where being of this form evolved." Everyone present, if they hadn't been listening, were now paying rapt attention. "It is said the Goa'uld harvested among the primitives. Some became Goa'uld hosts, others became jaffa. The rest were taken as slaves and seeded among the stars to serve them." Teal'c paused for a moment and shook his head. "But that world has been lost for centuries."

"Teal'c." Kennedy addressed him by name for the first time. "beings of this for evolved here, on Earth."

Teal'c sat up ramrod straight in his chair and glanced around at us in surprise. "This world?"

"Is the world you talking about, Teal'c." I answered him. "Ra came here over ten thousand years ago."

"If our ancestors hadn't rebelled and buried the Stargate..." Jack pondered.

Teal'c finished. "You would not have become strong enough to challenge them."

"So the galaxy is populated by the ancient peoples of Earth." I said. "There could be millions by now!"

Teal'c spoke again, his grave tone drawing everyone's attention back to him. "Then you are their greatest hope. And mine."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The meeting ended shortly there after. Teal'c was taken back to his cell while the rest of filed out in various directions.

I was almost all the way down the stairs when I heard General Hammond call to Kennedy. "Colonel Kennedy. A word."

"Is this about Teal'c?" Kennedy sounded annoyed.

Deciding to give them some privacy I turned to leave, but was halted by Hammond's next words. "Actually I wish to discuss Miss Clark."

"Ah, In my opinion General..." Kennedy began.

"I never requested your opinion, _Colonel!_" Hammond boomed. "If you ever speak to another person under my command as you spoke to Miss Clark today you will not be welcome on this base. Is that clear?!"

"With all due respect..."

"Is that clear?!" Hammond repeated cutting him off. He must have gotten the yes he was looking for. "Well good. Get out. You are dismissed."

Colonel Kennedy brushed past me on his way down the stairs, glaring the whole way. I could have cared less. I was glad to know that I had the support of the only person around here whose opinion counted in Hammond's eyes, his own.

Walking into the control room I saw a blonde head buzz past. "Captain Carter?"

"Miss Clark!" She stooped in her tracks and swiveled to face me. "You know, Captain Carter is bit of a mouthful to spit out every time you see me. Why don't you call me Sam?"

"Are you sure that's allowed?" I asked as we started down the hallway out of the control room.

"You're not military, and you call Colonel O'Neill by his first name."

"Yeah, but Jack is, he's just Jack."

Cart...Sam laughed. "We're going to be on the same team, we might as well put aside formalities."

Suddenly flashing red lights replaced the white ones on the hall.

Sam grabbed my arm and steered me out of the way of a squadron of soldiers running past. "Is it the Goa'uld again?" I shouted over the blaring sirens.

"I don't think so."

Right then a voice blared through out the base. "Security to the infirmary! Security to the infirmary. Set condition red."

"Let's get back to the control room." Sam said.

We started back when the sounds of a fight and crashing equipment prompted us to run faster. As we came up the steps we were confronted with Kawalsky frantically imputing coordinates into the control computer.

"Kawalsky! What the hell are you doing?!" Sam rushed him and tried to pull him away from the computer.

In an amazing display of strength he lifted her off him and threw her a good five feet before she collided with the far wall and fell to the ground unconscious.

"Close the blast doors!" I yelled at a technician, the only other person not unconscious. As the concrete slabs fell into place in front of the glass windows I ran to the mic I had seen Hammond speak into before. "Emergency in the control room!" I hoped this was the right phrase as my voice boomed over the loudspeakers. "Emergency in the contro... ah..." A hand came around my mouth cutting off my scream.

In the reflection in the glass I saw Kawalsky behind me, but it wasn't him. He had an enraged expression that I had never seen on him, even when he had thought Nebeth and I had died on Abydos. His arms were wrapped tight around my rid cage painfully.

I could feel his breath in the back of my neck. "Help me!" He spoke with a horrifying familiar reverberation to his voice.

My eyes flew wide. This was not my friend! My scream was muffled by his hand over my mouth and I dug my heels in as he dragged me back wards.

"Kawalsky!" Jack shouted from somewhere behind us.

Whoever was in control of Kawalsky spun us around, using me as a shield against the dozen or so guns pointed at us.

"Don't shoot!" Jack lunged at the soldiers, pushing their weapons down.

With incredible force Kawalsky began dragging me out into the corridor. As soon as we appeared the sound of several guns flipping off their safeties filled my pounding ears.

"Don't shoot! Don't shoot!" Jack ran out into the hall after us. Jack and the soldiers followed us warily.

There was an beep and then the sound of and elevator door opening behind us. Violently Kawalsky loosen his grip around my chest, only to throw me into the open elevator. My arm hit the metal wall hard, and I let a small cry. He stepped inside and pressed the button to close the door.

My heart felt like it was going to bust out of my chest. "Whoever you are, you wont get out of here alive." Kawalsky, the Goa'uld, seemed to ignore me. "They'll kill you before they let you go."

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the red handle of the emergency stop. He didn't seem to be paying any attention to me. But right when I made a grab for it his arm shot out and connected with my chest. The blow knocked the wind out of me and I flew backwards a short distance till my head hit the back wall. Pain exploded all over my body and I saw stars.

As I struggled to remain awake I saw through the fog Kawalsky shake his head. His body jerked and his head swiveled around the elevator.

I tried to call out to him, but it only came out as an unintelligible groan.

He snapped around and fell to his knees beside me. "Oh geez Kid!" his voice was back to normal. "Hang on, we'll get you out of here." he said checking my pulse.

There was loud banging coming from the other side of the elevator door. Slowly they we pried open. And there was Jack, Sam, Daniel, and Hammond staring at us in shock.

"Well, it's about damn time! Gimme and hand here!" Kawalsky yelled angrily.

Daniel started when he saw me, "Erin!", and he tired to get to me, only to be stopped by Jack.

Jack rushed in and grabbed Kawalsky by the arm and yanked him away from me. "Charlie, what the hell's going on?!"

Kawalsky shook his head. "I don't know, but she's hurt, real bad. We have to get her to the infirmary."

Jack brushed past him and knelt down next to me. Carefully he picked me up bridal style and carried me out. I tried to tell him I could walk, but that would have been a lie.

A med team had arrived and he placed my body on the stretcher. The nurse shown a bright light into my eyes. "It's a mild concussion, she'll be fine." The rest of what she said faded away.

I closed my eyes.

I opened my eyes.

And sat bolt upright when I realized that I was in a completely different room. There there was an IV in my arm and monitors on my forehead. Still half asleep, I tried to yank them away when someone grabbed my hands and stopped me.

My eyes traveled up the arms to see Daniel's concerned face inches from mine. "Dani?" I squeaked.

He pulled me into a hug, "Your okay, your safe."

"What happened?"

"You've been out for hours. You had us worried."

"What about Kawalsky?" I asked. "It's a Goa'uld, isn't it?"

Daniel nodded pulling back. "They think that it hasn't been able to take him over completely yet because it's an infant."

"I need to see him." I scrambled out of bed.

"Erin, I don't think..." Seeing my glare. "Fine. But let's get this IV out of you. Knowing you, it would nick an artery or something. Nurse?" He called on one of the nurses on duty.

Once all the monitors and the IV were off Daniel led me down the corridors to a quarantine room.

When we entered no one noticed, because Kawalsky was writhing and screaming in some kind of restraint system.

Daniel leaned down and whispered to me. "Erin, you don't need to see this."

"No, I'm staying." I flinched as Kawalsky let out another blood curdling cry.

"Where's the General?!" He shouted.

"Right here!" Jack announced walking in with Hammond and Teal'c.

"General, please." Kawalsky begged, "The pain, it's too much."

"We're doing what we can son, just hold in there." Hammond tied to calm him.

Kawalsky exploded. "No! No, don't you dare give me that good soldier crap. You order then to cut this damn thing out of me!"

"If they do you might die." Jack put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but Kawalsky wrenched away.

"I don't care! I rather be dead!"

Was this what Skaara and Sha're were going through right now? By Daniel's dark expression I could see he was wondering the same thing.

"Charlie, they want to talk to it." Jack's voice wavered.

"There's nothing to talk about!" Kawalsky's face had turned an alarming shade of red and sweat poured off him.

Teal'c stepped up. "We must offer it life to save your's. "

"No, I want you to kill it!" The restraints on Kawalsky were being stained to their limits and he beat his arm down on the bed.

Teal'c continued. "We must speak with the Goa'uld with in you."

"Please let them do their job." I pleaded with Kawalsky.

He turned his unfocused eyes in my direction. "Erin, Jack, please help me! Don't let them do this to me! I want you to kill it!"

Tears were running down my face. I couldn't bear to watch him suffer so greatly.

All the monitor in the room began beating rabidly and small alarms went off in accompaniment with Kawalsky's screams. "Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!." He sucked in a deep breath and fell limp face first against the bed and all the monitors returned to normal.

His body shuddered and then reared up. He turned his eyes in our direction, flashing wildly. When he spoke, it was with the reverberation of the Goa'uld inside. "Nemes kree! I will not speak to the traitor." It sneered at Teal'c. It then turned it attention to Hammond. "You are their leader?"

Hammond narrowed his eye and responded. "I am."

"Speak!" It commanded.

"I am General George Hamm..." Hammond began.

"I am only interested in going through the Stargate. Now!" The Goa'uld interrupted.

"You are in no position to make demands. I have a proposition for you." But Hammond never go to finish.

The Goa'uld flashed Kawalsky's eyes. "Release me now or I will destroy you!"

"If you leave this man's body we will allow you to return through the Stargate in your natural form."

"This body, is mine!"

"If you are unwilling to leave, we will be forced to surgically..." Hammond jerked back as the Goa'uld pulled his left arm free and swiped at him.

I grabbed his free arm and Jack grabbed the arm still restrained. He was so strong that even with my full weight against his one arm I was barley able to keep him down.

"Teal'c help her." Jack shouted.

Teal'c clamped down on Kawalsky's arm next to me.

The Goa'uld tilted his head at an unnatural angle and looked me dead in the eyes. It took all my control to stay standing were I was and not jump away. "Release me now or I will destroy you!"

"Do not attempt to escape! We will open fire!" Hammond signaled to the guards around the room. "Take aim!"

Daniel rushed forward, and wrapping his arms around my waist, pulled me out of the line of fire.

Just then Goa'uld glanced in my direction. Only, it wasn't the Goa'uld. Kawalsky heard the sound of guns aiming at him and the his eyes went wide with fear.

I struggled out of Daniel's grasp and ran to put myself between the guards and Kawalsky holding my hands up. "Don't shoot."

"Hold you fire!" Hammond ordered.

"Oh God!" Kawalsky collapsed against the bed.

I rubbed his trembling back. "It's okay. It's over, it over."

"I wont put you through that again son." Hammond said mournfully.

He turned his terrified gaze to me, near tears. "What did I do?"

"The thing's just got one heck of a mouth on him." I tried to be reassuring. "And it wasn't you. You are not to blame for anything it's done."

Kawalsky nodded, but his face showed that he didn't believe that. Across the bed Jack was rubbing his face with his palm and watching his friend carefully.

"Dr. Warner." Hammond addressed one of the doctors. "I want to know the minute that God forsaken thing can be removed from my officer." he barked and with that he marched out of the room.

Author's Note: I know this is pretty long and that it has been a while since I have updated so I hope you enjoy this. I'm almost done with part two of this episode and should be posting it n a few days. I'm working on trying to expand and explore the characters a little farther. I have the basic outline for this story mostly done, but I'd love to head what you all think. I've gotten some great suggestions so far. Please review and good morning, evening or goodnight. :)


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note. As always I don't own Stargate or any of the lines from the show, only my OC.

Chapter Nine

After Kawalsky had been sedated and was resting Hammond called a meeting. As he walked in followed by Kennedy Jack and Sam snapped to attention. "As you were people." And they sat back down. "In light of the day's events, Colonel Kennedy has chosen to make certain recommendations to my superiors that I want to share with all of you. Colonel Kennedy?" He gestured for the man to step forward.

"I know that many of you have served with Major Kawalsky, so please forgive me if what I am about to suggest appears in any way…callous. But I believe surgical removal of the parasite may be a mistake." he stated without any remorse a normal human should feel.

"General, this is a waste of time Kawalsky does not have." Jack was seething.

"Dr. Warner, what are Major Kawalsky's chances of surviving the procedure?" Kennedy said smugly.

Doctor Warner looked like he wanted nothing more then to refrain from answering his question. "Ten…twelve percent at most."

"And the parasite? It is an intelligent being after all, isn't it, Colonel? I believe I first read that in your report."

The doctor sighed. "The parasite itself would not survive the procedure."

"So, we're faced with destroying one life in the hopeless attempt to save another. You see the ethical dilemma?" Kennedy said like this would put an end to all arguments.

"I really don't." My face was burning in rage. I couldn't believe he was suggesting what I think he was suggesting. And so help me if he did.

"My team and I are completely prepared to perform the procedure, sir. We'll do our best." The doctor insisted.

"Of course you will, Doctor." Kennedy dismissed him. "Please don't misunderstand. We all wish the invading parasite in Major Kawalsky's body could be safely removed. But the facts are the facts. If we proceed with this operation, Major Kawalsky will have died in vain."

I jumped to my feet, ready to pummel this guy, but Jack grabbed my arm and shook his head. Slowly I sat back down.

Kennedy just smirked and continued on his little tirade. "Think about what we could learn. These infant Goa'ulds; if they're so young, so fragile in their larval state that they require a, uh…a, uh…I'm sorry what was it you called yourself again?" he asked Teal'c.

"Jaffa." Teal'c answered. Seriously? Kennedy had just been in a briefing with Teal'c. Had he not been paying attention? It was like he was trying to purposely expert his superiority by making others answer questions that he obviously knew the answer to

"So what? Incubator?" He outright insulted Teal'c like it was nothing. "How is it that they're so intelligent?"

"A Goa'uld is born with all the knowledge of all Goa'ulds that came before it." Teal'c explained.

"Genetic memory." Daniel translated through gritted teeth.

"All the knowledge of the Goa'ulds. I just want you all to think on that before we just throw it away." Kennedy ordered.

Jack's face grew contemplative, like he was actually considering it. "I've thought about it. You thought about it?" He glanced at me and I nodded. Jack then looked around the table at the rest of our team. "I think we've all thought about it." Even Teal'c and Hammond nodded in agreement. Jack turned his accusing gaze in Kennedy. "Any more thinking to be done?" He demanded.

"Colonel." Hammond warned him. But for once it didn't sound like he was reprimanding Jack.

"Imagine if we could convince this Goa'uld to share that knowledge." Kennedy pondered.

I scoffed. "Have you met these guys?!" Pausing. "Oh that right, you haven't. We are nothing to them." Kennedy pointed a finger at me, warning me to keep quiet. A warning I had not intention of following.

"What if we just studied it?" Kennedy leaned against his hands braced on the table. His face showed that he knew he was pulling at strings now. "How much could we learn from that? What if we just faced up to the fact of Major Kawalsky's slim chances of survival and realize that the greatest enemy mankind may ever face has just been delivered right to our doorstep?" Hammond's eye's narrowed dangerously and he pulled his lips up in a snarl at the Colonel. Kennedy had just crossed a line, but he continue regardless. "Even if we let it return through the Stargate as a gesture of good faith, how much could we…?"

"Just what kind of an officer are you, Colonel?" Hammond roared enraged as he shot out of his seat and pinned the Colonel with his gaze.

Kennedy stuttered. "Sir…?"

"As long as there is a snowball's chance in hell that my officer will come out of this procedure alive, we'll go ahead with it."

"With all due respect, General, I should take this to my superiors." Kennedy ironically said this without any of the respect he claimed.

"Well" Hammond smiled in a way that was not at all humorous. "I'll probably just call the President and get approval right from the horse's mouth. But sure, you go right ahead, Colonel. Talk to your superiors. In the meantime people, let's get the job done." He then abruptly left the room. Leaving a flabbergasted Kennedy in his wake.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After the meeting Jack and I went to the infirmary. In the far corner Kawalsky was strapped to a bed.

"Hey." I said sofly while knocking on the side of the infirmary's wall. Kawalsky open his eyes to look at us. "How are you?"

He weakly raised his arm and waved us closer. "It hurts to speak." He weased and coughed. "Whats going on?"

"There getting ready for the procedure. " Jack answered taking the seat next to Kawalsky's cot. Ad there was not other chair I stood close behind Jack.

"It's about time." Then Kawalsky took a deep breath and looked at me sadly. "Kid, I never apologized for hurting you earlier. I'm sorry. I just want to say that if I don't..."

I cut him off. "Don't talk like that, please. You're gong to make it. And there is nothing to forgive."

"Give me your hands." Kawalsky reached for us and I put my hand in his, and Jack placed his over top of ours. "If this doesn't work..."

A tear escaped my eye and ran down my cheek. I clenched my teeth to keep a sob from escaping and shook my head. _No, he's gonna be fine._

"Hey come on. This is gonna be a cake walk." Jack squeezed our connected hands.

Kawalsky let out a snort. "Will you guy let me finish? If this doesn't work I want to be cremated. I don't want any of that think let inside me. You'll make sure right?"

"We will." I assured him.

Kawalsky took another deep breath, it seemed like it was getting harder and harder for him. "I you both to know that it was a honor to serve with you." Tears were flowing freely down my face now. "Hey Kid."

I quickly brushed the tears away with my free hand. "Yeah?"

"No matter what happens with me, I don't want to give up on Skaara and Sha're. You're strong," he glanced at Jack. "you all are. I believe in you guys."

I smiled down at him. "Thank you."

"Listen," Jack began gravely. "I gotta ask you something, and it's not easy for me." he choked up a bit at the end.

"We're friends." Kawalsky eyed Jack warily.

"If you don't make it, can I have you stereo?"

With a look that spoke that Jack had just lost his mind Kawalsky stared at him for a minute. The he burst out laughing which quickly devolved into a coughing fit. "Oh, hey." he tried to steady his breathing. "It hurts to laugh." he chuckled.

Doctor Warner walked into the infirmary. "We ready for him."

"See you when this is all over." Jack patted our joined hands and stood up, backing away from the bed.

"You okay?" I asked.

Kawalsky smiled. "Never better."

Leaning down I kissed him on the cheek. Kawalsky smirked. "So this is what it takes to get kissed by a beautiful woman? I should have done this years ago." He laughed, but I could hear the fear behind it.

Jack pulled me into for a hug, which I gladly accepted. "See you soon." I said as they wheeled him out of the room.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I was the first to make it to the observation room above the surgical suite where they were going to bring Kawalsky after they had finished prepping him. I stood at the far wall near the glass window chewing on my nails. It was an old nervous habit that I had though I had killed years ago. Funny how life brings back things you though long buried.

"Miss Clark?" A voice questioned behind me and I jumped. Turning I saw Hammond standing in the door way.

"General?"

"I had a feeling I would find you here." He came to stand beside me. "With everything going on I haven't had the chance to talk with you personally."

"It's okay sir, I understand." I paused, unsure if I wanted to continue. "Sir, I wanted to thank you for standing up for me the other day, and for standing up for Kawalsky."

"Don't mention it, it's all part of command." He stated modestly. "How are you holding up with all this?"

The typical lie of always being fine automatically began to slip out. "I'm fin..." Stopping myself I settled for the truth, taking a deep breath before I continued. "Those of us who went on the first Abydos mission together are like family. Feretti's still in the hospital. Daniel lost his wife. My fiance. Our home. All within a day. And now Kaw... Jack, Daniel and I, we can't lose any more of our family" I choked up with that last part. It all came tumbling out. Every emotion, all the anger and pain I'd kept bottled up the past week poured out with my sobs. My breaths came in stutters and I clamped my hand over my mouth, trying to rein it all back in. Mentally I reprimanded myself for losing it like this, in front of an Air Force General no less. "I'm sorry sir." I managed to blurt out between gasps.

Brushing past the Hammond I tried to make my escape. To my surprise the General caught my arm as I passed and wrapped his arms around my shoulders. He patted my hair soothingly, like my father had done when he was still alive.

Once I had calmed down enough I stepped back. "Thanks." I said brushing away my remaining tears.

Hammond smiled warmly. "Don't mention it."

By now the doctors had wheeled in Kawalsky and were setting up for the surgery. A few minutes later Sam, Jack, Teal'c and Daniel climbed up the steps and joined us in the conversation room. The latter of which gave me a concerned glance and looked like he wanted to ask me something, I just shook my head and sat beside him.

Doctor Warner entered in full surgical gear and addressed Hammond. "I've held back on the use of anesthetic until it can be administered to both patient and creature simultaneously." he approached Kawalsky and leaned down so he was at eye level with him. "Major Kawalsky, we're going to begin the operation. Are you ready?"

"I wanna say something." He said loudly. "General Hammond, sir?"

Hammond spoke into a mic that feed hi voice into the surgical suite. "I'm here, son."

"If this doesn't work…I want you to give the order. I want to wake up as me or not at all."

Jack stiffened and fixed his gaze on his hands.

Hammond hesitated for a moment before letting out a sigh. "You have my word, son."

Doctor Warner raised a large syringe and placed it over the spot where Kawalsky's spine connected with his skull. In a precise moment he slid the needle into between the bones. "Alright. Injecting anesthetic. Start the clock." A nurse flipped a switch on a large digital timer and bold red letters began ticking off the seconds. "I'm making the first incision."

I cringed and looked away. Daniel put his arm around my shoulder and let my lean into him as we prepared to be there for the long hull.

An hour later and Doctor Warner was still fast at work. "I'm separating the primary ganglia attaching the parasite to the spinal cord…now. It's coming away more easily than I'd hoped. Must be the anesthetic."

** "**At least it's going well." Sam said.

"That's fantastic. If we can reverse what's happened to the major, then there's still a chance for Sha're." Daniel said hopefully.

"And Skaara." I added.

"Let's hope." Sam was sympathetic. Daniel missed the nervous glance she gave him.

** "**The ganglia are still constricting…periodically. Obviously there still seems to be some sign of life in this symbiote. I don't know how. Scissors." Warner pulled back from the operation table in shock, but he quickly composed himself. "There are thin filaments extending up and into the brain. I'm going to sever them." No sooner had he begun cutting did Kawalsky's body start convulsing violently. "Hold him still!" he shouted.

"Oh my God!" I gasped. Daniel gripped my hand.

"What's happening?" Hammond barked into the mic.

As Kawalsky became still again Warner backed away from the table with his arms raised. "I don't know, sir, I don't think it was anything I did. I'd like to proceed."

"How much longer?" Hammond asked.

"Almost there. Almost. Large clamp?" On the large screen a digital image of the Goa'uld was shown being cut in half, then slowly being pulled away from Kawalsky's spine. "I'm taking it out…now." He lifted a dangling, limp worm away from Kawalsky and slipped into a basin that a nurse held up. "I think we did it. Close for me."

"Well done, everyone." Hammond congratulated them.

"Yes!" Sam cheered. While Daniel and I crushed each other in hug.

"It's over, it's going to be okay, Everything's going to be fine." Daniel kept whispering over and over.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Daniel, Jack, Warner and I stood around Kawalsky's bed. Slowly he began to peel open his eyes.

"That's right, Dorothy." Jack said patting him on the arm. "It was all a dream."

"Can you move your fingers?" Warner asked and Kawalsky groggily waved. "And toes." And Kawalsky wiggled his toes, leaving us all grinning from ear to ear. "Congratulations , Major. You've already exceeded my wildest expectations."

"Thirsty." Kawalsky croaked, waving at his throat. There was a plastic cup by his bed half full of water and I handed it to him. He immediately drained the whole thing, causing him to cough.

Jack took the cup from him, laughing joyously. "Easy, big fella. You're not drinking for two any more."

"I made it?" He asked.

"See? I told you. Piece of cake." Jack handed him another cup of water. This one he drank more slowly.

"Anyway. Uh…Colonel Kennedy's probably going to want to take it with him. So, if you wanna see it once before..?" Daniel said awkwardly.

"You're not talking about that thing in my head, are you?" Kawalsky looked at Daniel like he was nuts.

"Daniel thinks it's fascinating." I explained rolling eye at him.

"No! I just thought you might wanna see it."

Kawalsky shook his head. "Noooo, thanks."

Sam then came running into the infirmary. "Hey, I just heard. They're shipping Teal'c out to Langley. Kennedy's taking him with him." She said angrily.

"What for?" Daniel demanded .

"'Study.' That's Kennedy's word." Sam spat.

"I should have punched him when I had the chance!" I growled and started for the door.

Jack stepped into my path, "I'll handle this." Spinning on his heel the stormed out.

Kawalsky grabbed Sam's arm as she passed to follow Jack. "Listen, in case the Colonel can't talk them out of it. I'd like a minute alone with Teal'c before they ship him out. He helped get me through this. I got to thank him."

Sam patted his hand. "Okay, I think that can be arranged. Come on guys, let's let him get some rest."

I took a deep breath to calm down. Once I was sure I wasn't gonna go pummel a certain Colonel I turned to Kawalsky and took his hand. "Feel better soon. You still have P3... P3..." I couldn't remember that dang designation. "That planet to go explore." He smiled and squeezed my hand. Daniel took my other hand, leading me out of the infirmary.

"See you later." Kawalsky called out just before we turned the corner.

"Goodbye!" I shouted back.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Where you off to now?" I asked Daniel. "I'm probably going to work on some translations the malps have picked up from off-world." He ended with a yawn. The dark circles I had noticed under his eyes had, if anything, doubled.

"When did you last sleep?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "I don't know."

"You should go get some rest, you wont be any good half dead."

A pained expression took over his face. "I've tried to sleep. But every time I close my eyes I see..." He stopped in his tracks with his dejected eyes cast down to floor.

"Me to." I said rubbing his arm. The last times I had slept I'd woken up in a cold sweat screaming, images of Skaara and Sha're locked in a never ending replay. "It's not gonna get any easier, is it?"

"Probably not." He paused tugging on my messy ponytail like he used to when we were little. "You know if you ever want to talk."

Smiling I turned to leave. "Thanks. The same goes for you to." Then I whirled around and jabbed my finger in his direction. "Go. To. Sleep. Now!"

Laughing he held his hands up in surrender. "You know, in a normal older brother younger sister relationship our roles would be reversed." Narrowing my eyes I glared at him and again pointed in the general direction of his quarters. "Alright, alright. Goodnight."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Lost, again. After leaving Daniel to, hopefully get some rest I had traveled down a corridor I had thought led to my room. Five turns later I came around the corner only to find the entrance to the infirmary at the end of the hall.

But where the two guards were supposed to be stationed outside the doors, they now laid in a heap unconscious. "Oh my God." Running to them I feel to my knees next to the first one and felt his pulse. It was faint but there. But as I felt the second's, hoping against hope that the unnatural angle of his neck was just a trick of the eye, I felt nothing. From inside the room a pained groan called my attention. On my way to the doors I slammed my hand down on the emergency alarm setting off the sirens and flashing lights.

Slowly I pushed open the swinging doors, unsure of what I would find. Inside Teal'c was struggling to stand, bracing himself on one of the cots. "Teal'c? What happened?" I shouted running to help him.

"The Goa'uld within has won." he growled.

My blood ran cold. "No, that's not possible. How?"

"It deceived us."

"Emergency in the control room. Repeat emergency in the control room." A voice called over the loud speakers.

"Come on." I grunted pulling Teal'c to his feet. "We have to stop him."

Wordlessly we ran through the halls, somehow managing to reach the control room. There was the faint sound of the gate spinning. "He has activated the Stargate. I will attempt to stop him from going through it." Teal'c was already headed to the gate room.

"Go. " I yelled over my shoulder, running up a flight of stairs. "I'll try to shut the gate down from control room." The control room was dark with the blast doors down and was equipment overturned and scattered across the floor. Frantically I began typing on the control computer. A flash-bar popped up indicating that the gate was dialing a very familiar set of coordinates.

"What's going on?" Jack asked racing down the stairs from the briefing room with Hammond.

"Kawalsky, the Goa'uld set the coordinates for Chulack." I answered while trying to get the computer to revoke the dialing command. Another alarm went off and flashing red words appeared on the screen. _Two minutes until auto-destruct. _"Guys." my voice went shrill.

Hammond stared in shock at the screen. "He set the auto-destruct on the fail-safe device."

"How did it know the code?" I asked Hammond as he pushed me aside.

"I don't know. But I need two ranking officers to override it and that's- you Colonel." He and Jack began typing in their override codes.

"Alright that did it." Jack finished putting in the last of his code and the destruct warning disappeared from the screens. "Erin open the blast doors."

I hit the release and the blast doors slid up to reveal Teal'c and Kawalsky fighting it out one the ramp leading to the gate. Kawalsky had Teal'c by the throat and pushed him face first through the event horizon. Teal'c jerked back causing Kawalsky to tumble off him and he fell to the ground. Teal'c then grabbed a handful of Kawalsky's clothes and hulled him up. He glared at Teal'c and clawed at Teal'c's hands. Heaving himself forward Teal'c shoved the back of Kawalsky's head through the gate.

Jack shouted into the mic. "Teal'c hold him there! Shut it down." He pointed his at me, then brought his hand swiftly down. "Now!"

Flipping open the plastic cover I slammed the emergency disengage, shutting the gate off. Kawalsky's eyes flew wide in shock, dulling as the light left them and he fell from Teal'c grasp to the ground, dead.

My heart pounded as I tried to comprehend what I was seeing, but my mind didn't want to accept it. The illogical part of my brain denied it. _No. He's fine, when I get down there he will be fine. This is a dream, this is a dream, this is a dream. _

The rational part of my brain came to one conclusion, he was gone. "Dammit!" Seemingly of it's own accord, my fist plowed through the glass screen of the unlucky computer in front of me. Looking down at my injury, I didn't even feel it. Not even when the jagged shards of glass caught my skin as I pulled it out of the hole I created.

Numbly I walked out of the control room, brushing past Hammond when he moved to help me. I was dimly aware the Jack followed me into the gate room. Kawalsky's eyes stared upward from his still body. Falling to my knees beside him I reached out with a shaking hand and closed his eyes for the last time.

"He was your friend." Teal'c's deep voice was full of sadness.

Jack knelt next to me, tears streaming down his cheeks as he covered his mouth with his hand to hold in a sob. A hissing sound came from Kawalsky's body. From where the gate had sheared off the back of his head a small grub like creature fell out and shriveled up.

Jack tore his gaze from the body and stood, his face devoid of emotion. "My friend died on the table."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

I winced as the doctor wrapped gauze around my hand. The full realization of what had just happened hit me like a tone of bricks.

There was a skidding sound just as the door of the infirmary flew open and Daniel burst through. "My God, Erin!" He grabbed my shoulders. Then seeing my wrapped hand pulled it closer, running his fingers over the bandages. "I just heard. Are you alright?" Tugging gently my hand. "What happened?" The fact that he had asked me a question registered somewhere in the back of my brain. Daniel gently took my face in his hands, trying to get me to look at him. "Erin talk to me."

Oh how I wanted to, but the message just wasn't translating to my mouth.

"She's been like that since they brought her in, Dr. Jackson." The doctor who had treated me said coming to stand by Daniel. She placed a hand on his arm, squeezing softy. "It could be a few minutes before she comes out of it, or a few days." She shown a light into my eyes and marked the result on a clip board. "Has anything else happened recently that could have caused this reaction."

Daniel sighed and glanced at the floor sadly. "Yeah, to much."

"She doesn't seem to be the only one." The doctor observed. "The best thing to do now would be the wait with her, it probably wouldn't be a good idea for her to wake up alone." Sliding her clipboard into a slot by my bed, she turned to leave.

"I never got you name." Daniel asked, almost as an afterthought.

"Dr. Fraiser." She called over her shoulder, then pausing at the doorway she looked back at Daniel. "Take care of yourselves." And with that she left.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After about half an hour Daniel had climbed up on the bed beside me. Sliding an arm around my waist he leaned my body again his side, tucking my head under his chin.

Everything flashed through my mind. Sha're's terrified gaze as she was dragged from the dungeon on Chulak. Skaara screaming my name as he to was ripped away. Sha're's hollow eyes when Apophis ordered Teal'c to kill us. Skaara's face just before he attacked Jack and I. Feeling like my heart had just been ripped out and handed to me as the gate shut down, realizing that Skaara was gone. Kawalsky's eyes when I pushed the disengage and killed him.

"I killed him." I whispered, finding the nerves in my mouth.

Daniel, who I guess had been dozing off, jerked like he'd been shocked. "What did you say?"

"My fault. I killed him." I choked on the words. Sliding forward I braced my elbows on my knees and let out a sob.

Daniel's arms tightened around me. "No." He said rubbing my back soothingly. "That was the Goa'uld, not you. There was nothing you could have done."

My horrified gaze met his. "Maybe but I'm the one who pushed the button. I'm going to have to live with that for the rest of my life."

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Jack was the first to arrived in the gate room for our first mission. Steeling myself and pushing everything down I walked up the ramp, stopping beside him.

"Hey, you ready for this?" Jack asked.

"I'll live." I answered. "You?" One would not see it immediately, but ever since Kaw... since then, Jack carried himself like he had a great weight bearing down on his shoulders.

"I'll live." He replied, repeating my answer with an attempt at a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

We stood a few minutes in silence, nothing could be said and nothing needed to be said.

Then that silence was broken with Sam and Daniel rushing in. Daniel was desperately trying to snap his helmet in place.

"I was just telling Daniel..." Sam stopped. Having enough she slapped Daniel's hands out of the way and snapped his helmet for him.

"Well...What." Jack playfully snapped, calling Sam's attention back to what she had just said.

Sam pursued her lips, thinking for a moment. Then realization dawned on her face. "Oh, sorry sir. As I was saying. The fact that Kawalsky knew the code for the auto-destruct proves that there is hope for Skaara and Sha're."

"How?" I asked surprised. "Only Kawalsky could have known that code. So..."

"Something of the host must survive." I added interrupting her.

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Colonel O'Neill." Hammond boomed happily, striding in. "Is SG-1 ready to move out?"

Jack smiled, giving him a small salute. "We are sir."

Hammond nodded. "Good, then you have a go for a standard recon mission to P3-575."

The left blast door leading to the hallway slid open and Teal'c walked through. He looked a little weird in a military uniform, a helmet in one hand and his staff in the other. "Reporting as ordered." Punctuating his sentence with by sharply snapping his staff on the ground.

Jack leaned over and softly clapped him on the back in a gentle reminder. "Sir, it sir." Waving his hand at Hammond.

Teal'c only quirked his right brow and stood at full attention before the General. "Sir."

Hammond smiled up at him. "Welcome aboard son." To which Teal'c bowed to him slightly before joining us on the ramp.

"The malp reports conditions on the planet are favorable." Sam said as we all stopped just in front of the event horizon.

"I like favorable." Reaching into my vest I pulled out a ball cap similar to Jack's and straightened it on my head.

He smirked at my display of imitation before turning back to the gate. "Well."

As one we stepped through. Our adventure had just begun.

Author's note: Whew, this episode was so much longer than I had expected, but I hope you all like how it turned out. Kawalsky 's death always had a huge impact on me when I first watched the show, so I wanted to make it have a bigger impact on the characters. That's why I made Erin be the one to push the button. In future episodes this is really going to begin to eat at her. My original outline for this story has been whittled down a lot and I'll be jumping over a lot of the first season. But if there is an episode you absolutely want to see done, or if you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them. I hope you all review. Stay tuned for more. Peace out. :)


	10. Chapter 10

Author's note: Nope, still don't own it.

Chapter Ten

Singularity

Blue moonlight streamed down on the never ending waves of white sand. A cloudless sky brightly showed every star in the night. The air was cool on my skin as I sat at the base of the great pyramid.

I've had this dream before. It felt so calm, so peaceful here. But underneath it all is a dim sense of dread that for the life of me I couldn't place, not here.

The scene morphed, bleeding into another place and time. Skaara packing his bag in his tent, preparing to leave with his gathering party to search for food during the dry season. He paused on his way out by where I stood at the entrance. "I will return soon." He brushing his hand over my scar and planting a small kiss on my forehead. "I love you." With one last smile he leaves.

On my way back to my tent I realize what had been nagging me since he left. That was the first time he told me he loved me.

My dream dissolves and it's months later. I am once again at the pyramid with the moon shining above, only this time I'm not alone.

Skaara leads me over the remaining rubble from almost a year ago. Careful of the rock's sharp edges, he helps me to stand on the very same rock we climbed on after our victory of Ra.

He looked around nervously, not meeting my gaze. Skaara had been acting weird all day. When I had asked Dani about it he only smiled and walked away like he knew something, but wasn't going to tell me.

Suddenly he gets down on one knee. _Oh Holy Crow!_ My pulse started hammering away, so loud that I'm sure he can hear it. Everything was beginning to make sense.

"Dan-yell told me of the customs of your world when a man wishes to wed a woman." He started stammering. "I can't promise that there will always be enough food or water. I can't promise that life will always be easy and without heartache. But I can promise that I will love you, from now until the day I die." Standing, he took my hands in his. "That is, if you'll have me." His eyes were trained on the ground and his face blazed red.

Tears of joy were running down my cheeks as I threw my arms around his neck. He jumped in surprise and I giggled. "Yes! Was there ever any doubt." Smiling, I pressed my lips to his cheek.

He arms tightened around me, it felt safe.

Skaara's body stiffed against mine. Warning bells began to go off in the back of my mind.

Skaara's arms kept tightening until it felt like my ribs would crack. "Skaara! What are you doing?" I gasped and wrenched away from him.

His hand shot forward and wrapped around my throat. My terrified eyes met his glowing ones. "Skaara, don't do this, please." I pleaded, but he only smirked and clamped down harder. His face was full of cruelty and he seemed to enjoy the pain he was inflicting on me.

Out of nowhere a gun materialized in my hand, and I realized what I would have to do. My shaking arms raised the gun, aiming at his stomach. "Don't make me do this." My breathes were coming in shorter and shorter gasps.

Skaara free hand grabbed the gun and it went off. His eyes dimmed as his grasp on my neck loosened and he fell to the ground. Just before his eyes closed he looked up at me, betrayal written all over his face.

"No!" Screaming, I fell beside his unmoving body.

The wind picked up around us, blowing sand violently till it blocked out the light of the moon.

When it settled Skaara's body wasn't the only one lying on the ground. Scattered around the gate room at the SG-C were the broken bodies of Kawalsky, Jack, Sam, Teal'c, and Hammond as well as dozens of SG-C personnel I didn't even recognize.

My hands felt warm and sticky. Looking down I saw they were drenched in blood. There was the creaking sound of steps behind where I sat on the ramp.

I whirled around. Daniel stood behind me, in his hand was a gun aimed at my head. When he spoke, it was with a voice full of barely contained rage. "Your fault." His face contorted into a snarl.

He pulled the trigger.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"No!" I screamed, ripping the bed sheets away. Sweat and tears ran off my face. Trying to calm my pounding heart, I pressed my hands to my chest.

It was always the the same dream every time I tried to sleep. Every night for months.

A knock sounded at my door. "Erin, you up yet?" Daniel's voice asked.

Running my hand through my damp hair I pulled the covers off and set my feet on the freezing floor. "Yeah." I shouted back.

"We got about an hour until our next mission." He reminded me.

"I'll be there." I must sound horrible.

"Hey are you okay?" Daniel asked. He was the only one besides Jack who knew about the nightmares.

"Don't worry about me." Opening my set of drawers I pulled out a set of fatigues. "I'll be in the gate room on time."

"Okay." He sounded unsure. "See you then." There was the faint sound of his boots walking away.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

"Hey Erin!" Sam greeted me when I finally shuffled into the locker room to pick up my gear. We were the only two yet to get ready.

"Morning." I mumbled picking up my pack, shoving random things into it.

Sam furrowed her brows. "It's afternoon."

"What?" I glanced down at my watch. I'd overslept, on an epic scale. No wonder Daniel sounded worried when he came to wake me up.

"So..." Sam began.

"Yeah?" I looked up from my bag. The zipper had become stuck and I started yanking violently on it.

"So, I here you thinking about moving off base." She said taking the pack out of my hand, effortlessly zipping it closed.

"Thanks." I said taking it back. "And I'm not just thinking about it. I put a deposit down for a small condo about five miles from here."

"Really?" Sam smiled. "House warming party?"

That got a laugh from me. "Maybe."

"Hey Kids." Jack stuck his head in. "You coming?"

"Jack!" I shrieked tossing a shoe at him. "This is the girls locker room! Get out!"

"If I did that I'd get court marshaled." Sam laughed, shaking her head at me.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Teal'c and Daniel were already waiting for us in the gate room.

Daniel was watching me closely, but didn't say anything. I knew he wanted me to talk to someone, but I just wasn't ready.

I smiled halfheartedly. "So, what exactly are we going to see after the eclipse begins? I mean, its black, and its a hole..." I trailed off.

"Well, it might be a black hole." Jack said sarcastically.

I glared at him. "Um, let me rephrase that."

"No Erin, you're right." Sam explained starting up the ramp. "You can't exactly see the singularity itself. It's so massive, not even light can escape it. But, during the totality phase of the eclipse, you should be able to see matter spiraling towards it." She ended by spinning her hands around and then shooting them at the gate.

"Actually, it's called the accretion disk." Jack called out from where he had stopped to tie his shoe.

"Well, I guess it's easy enough to understand why the local population would be afraid of something like thi…" Daniel followed Sam up the ramp, then he seemed to realized what Jack had just said, and whirled to stare dumfounded at him. "What did you just say?"

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "It's just an astronomical term." He said offhand like it was the most normal thing in the world.

"You didn't think the Colonel had a telescope on his roof just to look at the neighbors, did you?" Sam smiled at Daniel and I.

Jack paused for a moment and looked of into space thoughtfully. He then turned to Teal'c, who had his customary eye brow raised, and added as afterthought. "Not initially."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

As we came through the gate on the other side there was an eerie disquiet. With all the fields of crops as far as the eye could see you would think there'd be at least a few workers out in them.

"Someone from SG-7 should have been here to greet us." Teal'c said, surveying the surrounding empty area.

Jack walked down the steps leading to the gate and pointed at the observatory that the SGC had set up a few months ago. "They should be prepping the telescope for the big show. Come on, lets head out."

We were nearly halfway there before we found a man lying face down in the dirt.

"Hey!" I yelled running to his side. "Are you okay? Sir!" Jack knelt down beside me and helped to turn him on his side. The man's face was covered in lesions and he had obviously been dead for a good amount of time. "Holy crow!" I screamed, jerking away.

Jack yanked his hands away to. "Oh God. Alright, MOPP 4." He said reaching into his pack and pulling out a hazmat mask.

After I pulled mine on he handed me a decontamination towlet to rub on my hands. The stuff smelled horrible, but hopefully it would kill anything on our hands.

"Okay, Daniel, you Erin and Teal'c check out the village." Jack ordered standing, then helping me to my feet. "You guys find out why none one's missed this guy, where everyone else is. Carter and I will go to the observatory. We'll all meet back there in twenty, got that."

"Yes Sir." Sam answered.

"Alright, move out." Jack said heading off towards the observatory with Sam.

"Where's the village?" I asked Daniel.

"Less than a quarter of a mile that way." He pointed at a cluster of windmills and small buildings in the distance.

The walk there was a short one, but it seemed longer. I kept expecting to see children running around or hear the sound of some native animals. As we walked into the center of town the only sound was that of an open door banging against its frame in the wind.

"Hello! Is anyone here?!" I screamed walking to the swinging door. A sickly smell came from inside, and I knew what I would find before I even went in. In the dim light that streamed in through a cracked window I saw a family seated around their dinner table. Whatever happened, happened quickly for their forks were still in their hands.

"There are more bodies over here!" Teal'c called out behind me, and I could hear his and Daniel's boots crunching on the gravel road. But I couldn't rip my eyes away from the scene before me. Did these people have time to realize what was happening, or was it quick? I hoped it was quick.

"Erin." Daniel came up nest to me and laid a hand on my shoulder. I wrenched my gaze away from the family to look at him. "We need to get back to Jack and Sam." I nodded. "Okay. Teal'c come on."

We took off running towards the observatory. Plowing through the entrance, we raced to where we knew the barracks were.

"JACK! JACK!" I screamed coming to a dead stop when I saw all of SG-7 laying dead in their beds. Panting I looked up at Jack and Sam's startled expressions.

Seeing I couldn't breath, Daniel spoke up. "They're dead, all of them."

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

All my team stood in a plastic room, blasted by hot decontaminate steam. After that was done we stepped out. Dr. Fraiser greeted us, fresh out of her hazmat suit. "This complex has been totally decontaminated. How many dead?"

I felt like I was going to be sick as I answered. "We estimate about a thousand."

Janet glanced between us, confused. "Why didn't they send a message, some warning this was happening?"

"We don't know." Jack answered.

"Looks like all this happened very quickly." Daniel said walking to a swivel chair and taking a seat.

"There may still be survivors out there. Shouldn't we be looking for them?" I asked stepping forward.

Janet shook her head. "No. Not until I examine you. We'll use the barracks room. Colonel, you said that you touched one of the victims before putting on gloves?"

Jack's eyes widened. "Yeah, both Erin and I did, but we washed our hands right away." He held his hands up as proof.

"No. You two are first." Janet took us both by the arm and began leading us into the examination room, but a loud and sudden sneeze made us all jump.

"Allergies, right?" Jack glanced at Daniel, who was blowing into a handkerchief. When Janet didn't say anything he asked again. "Right?"

"Right." She hesitantly agreed, eying Daniel carefully.

All the while Daniel watched this exchange with a horrified expression painted on his face. "It'll be okay." I mouthed to him as Jack and I were lead out of the room.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

After we'd all been examined and were shown to exhibit none of the standard signs of infection. Janet, abet reluctantly, cleared us to join the search for survivors. We trudged around in the yellow, bulky hazmat suits, except Teal'c who didn't need one. After we'd tagged the twentieth body on a narrow stretch of dirt road it seemed more like a recovery than a rescue.

Daniel got up from tagging a small, blonde haired boy and looked around in despair at all the dead, a few he'd spoken to only a week earlier. "They knew this would happen."

Sam turned to him sharply. "The indigenous people?"

Daniel nodded, adjusting the breathing pack on his back. "Yeah. They told me when we came here three months ago that with the darkness would come the apocalypse. It was part of their mythology. But what do we tell them? That it's just an eclipse, and there's nothing to worry about."

Sam and Daniel started down the road after Jack, but as I began to follow rustling in a nearby bush stopped me. Turning back I saw a tiny hand emerge from the bush and pull the tag off the boy Daniel had just pinned. "Hello?" I called out, kneeling down so I could see into the underbrush better. Inside the small, dirty face of a young girl peered out at me. "Hello, it's okay. You can come out. Look, I know I must look pretty scary in the mask, but I'm not going to hurt you. It's okay." I reached towards her, but she pulled away." Twisting my body I turned and looked up at Jack and Teal'c who had come up beside me. "There's someone in the bushes, but I can't get them to come out. I think its the mask."

Jack nudged Teal'c "Show 'em your face." Teal'c lifted his one eyebrow and frowned, like he wasn't sure what Jack was asking. Jack just sighed and nodded in the direction of the girl. "Try to look friendly."

Teal'c walked around to the other side of the bushed and leaning down, spoke in surprisingly gentle voice. "We will not hurt you. Please come out." He said reassuringly and held his hand out."Take my hand." The girl looked unsure and hesitantly reached for his hand. When he had and firm grip on her, Teal'c smiled down at her kindly and gently pulled out of the bushed and lead her around to the rest of us. "It is okay."

Now out in the open I could see that she had light red hair that flowed past her shoulders. She was even smaller than I first thought, probably no more than eight years old. Her face was expressionless, a typical sign of shock. But her eyes showed that she was terrified, maybe not of us, but of something.

Sam, Jack, Daniel, and I shared concerned glances. I'm not sure what we were excepting if we found survivors, perhaps someone barley clinging to life or already showing signs of the disease. All I know it that finding a seemingly perfectly healthy little girl was out of the question.

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The little girl sat on the examination table. The whole time Janet looked her over she had not said a word, only stared off into space.

When we had come back, Daniel suggested that since I had often worked worked with children back on Abydos, many of them sick, that I would be helpful with the girl. Janet finished listening to her lungs and waved me over.

"It's okay. Don't worry, everything's going to be fine." The paper mask over my mouth muffled my words. She didn't seem to react to my words and I tried to get her to meet my eyes. "Can you hear me?" I turned to Janet who was putting away some medical supplies. "Can I take this mask off?" I tugged on the mask's straps.

Janet nodded, pulling hers off and I followed suit. "I think that'll be okay. Looks like we're dealing with a bacteria infection. Just don't get too close."

I set my mask down and ruffled my flattened hair. "There, that's better, isn't it? You feel like telling me your name now?" The girl gave me a blank look, then deliberately looked away again. At least I knew she could hear me. I forced a smile and rubbed her arm. "That's okay. You remember my name? Erin Clark. But you can call me Erin."

The girl pulled something shiny out from under her hospitality gown and clipped it on her collar. With a jolt I realized it was one of the identification tags that we'd been pinning on the bodies when we found her. "Oh no, no baby. You're not going to die." My hands came up trying to pull the tag away, but she clamped down on it. "Okay." I said brushing some of her hair out of the way. "Why don't you just lay down and rest for awhile, okay?" She obediently laid down, clutching on the tag like another child would a teddy bear. "You're very brave." I said brushing the back of my hand over her cheek before pulling a thin blanket over her. I saw so much of myself in this little girl. She had seen things that on one her age should ever see, I just hoped it wouldn't haunt her as what I'd seen haunted me. She leaned into my hand as I ran my hand through her hair once more and she closed her eyes.

Janet called from across the room, "This can't be."

Cold dread made my stomach feel like it was filled with bricks. "Please tell me she's not infected."

"No, she's not." Janet said, filling me with relief.

"Then what's wrong?" I asked coming to stand next to her. The computer screen she was working on was filled with readings and test results I didn't even pretend to understand.  
"Three are traces of the element the Stargate is made of in her blood." Janet gestured to a particular set of readings in the screen.

"What?! Naquada?" I looked back at the sleeping girl across the room.

"Yes. Now, it's possible that's the reason she was able to resist the infection." A technician came into the room handed her a readout. "Thank you." She flipped though the page and turned to me. "Come on, the rest of your team will want to know these results."

"What about her?" Leaving her alone after everyone she properly knew had died didn't set well with me.

Janet glanced between me and the girl. "She'll be fine." We walked out into the room where the telescope was set up. "Well, I have some bad news. The samples my team collected show the entire area to be contaminated. It's in the water and the ground. Now, the bacteria doesn't seem to be airborne, but it has the unique ability to survive in a variety of environments."

"Listen, um…" Daniel spoke, hesitantly. "I hate to sound self-centered here, but…"

"Your tests are fine." Janet reassured us all.

"What of the girl?" Teal'c asked.

"No sign of infection, and as a precaution I did an ultrasound to make sure she wasn't parasitically infested with a Goa'uld."

"So," Jack clapped his hands together. "she goes back with us."

"Doctor, would it be safe for someone to stay a little while longer? I mean, we're safe right now, right?" Sam asked, setting down some notes on the singularity she'd been looking over.

"Captain?" Jack questioned. His face showed that he thought she was completely crazy for wanting to stay here, and for once I didn't disagree.

Sam began passionately. "Sir, the eclipse happens in less than one day. This is our only opportunity to use this window of darkness to photograph the black hole with this telescope. It could change the course of human history. I don't want to belittle what's happened here, but if we just pack up and leave, SG-7 and all these people will have died for nothing."

Her speech was cut off by the pitter-patter of bare feet on concrete. Behind where Janet and I were standing, the little girl cowered in the door frame. She looked at us with fearful, glazed eyes and her feet wavered between running back into the examination room and staying where she was. Finally she seemed to decide and she scurried forward, latching onto my arm. She gazed at the rest of SG-1 with a half-hidden face from behind me.

Jack grinned mischievously at me. "Well, we know one person who wont be staying."


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: I don't own any of the Stargate characters or lines, only my oc. I know I the series that Cassandra was closer to twelve years old, but I decided to make her character younger in this story. I hope you enjoy and review :).

Chapter 11

Daniel decided to go back to the SG-C with me and the girl, while Jack and Teal'c elected to stay behind with Sam.

To go back outside we had to put on the yellow hazmat suits again. Where they were baggy on me, they positively swallowed up the girl.

Walking up the steps to the gate she pulled on my to stop. She stared fearfully as people stepped through the event horizon and disappeared.

Kneeling down beside her, I looked her in the eyes. "Hey, you okay? Don't be afraid, I'll be holding your hand the whole way, all right? I know it looks kinda scary, but it's really a lot of fun." Standing I nodded at Daniel to take her other hand, and he did. "We'll do it together, okay? On three. One, two, three." Swinging our hands we leapt through the gate.

Immediately after we came through the other side we were blasted with sterilizing steam and a voice over the loud speaker announced. "Level one decontamination complete. Proceed with level two."

The girl handled her first travel through the gate surprisingly well. I helped her pull her helmet off and she looked around the gate room in awe. Smiling, I took her hand again. "Hey, it wasn't so bad, was it?"

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After we'd been checked out and cleared I lead her to her room. When we opened the door I could see the dismay on her face. It was a barren concrete walled and floored room, empty save for a small bed and desk.

"Well, here we are." I tried to sound cheerful. "This is where you're going to stay for a little while, okay? I know it's nothing fancy, but we'll fix it up."

Taking her hand I guided her over to bed and sat her down. I crouched down next to the bed so I was eye level with her. "I have to go somewhere for a little while. But I promise you I won't be gone long, okay?" Standing I started to back away but the girl grabbed a handful of my shirt, she looked terrified to be left alone. Sighing I sat down on the bed. "Alright I'll stay for awhile." Her face relaxed and she skootched closer, leaning against my side. Raising my arm, I began to run my finger through her hair. After a few minutes I heard her breaths even out as she dozed.

Untangling myself from her arms I carefully laid her down on the bed and covered her up. After I was sure she was asleep I quietly slipped out the door. There was some stuff from my childhood that I had in my room here since I pulled them out of storage. It wasn't much, a few stuffed animals and old toys, but it would have to do.

On my way back I passed the cafeteria and it occurred to me that she probably had eaten in a while. I was in a hurry to I just grabbed several hot dogs and a few packets of ketchup and mustard. The lunch lady on duty gave me a funny look, since I was known to be the health food nut around here.

I must have been a strange sight, walking through a military base juggling a plate of hot dogs in one hand and stuffed animals and coloring books in the other.

The guard posted outside the girl's room raised his eyebrows but said nothing as he opened the door for me.

As I closed the door behind me with my foot the girl blinked groggily and sat up in the bed.

"Hey," I said. "I though you might be a little hungry so I brought you these." Holding up the hot dogs. "I also got you some things to play with."

She started at me while I walked over to her bed and spilled everything but the hot dogs on her bed, those I sat o the small desk on the other side of the room. Hesitatingly she reached out and touched the furry ear of a stuffed panda bear. Seeing that it wasn't going to bite her she pulled it close and clutched it to her chest. Grabbing a pad of paper and some crayons she hopped off the bed. She walked over and pulled a hot dog out of its bun and sat down on the chair, munching on it. On the pad of paper she was quickly drawing a scene that I couldn't make out yet.

"Don't you want this?" I asked gesturing at the empty hot dog bun. Taking the other chair around the desk, I picked up another hot dog. "See, we usually put some stuff on it, like this." I squeezed some mustard on mine and took a big bite. "See? Yum." She just glanced at me blankly and went back to her drawing.

Leaning over the table I tried to get a better look. On the paper she had drawn a girl standing alone over several bodies lying on the ground. She had just started drawing tears on the girl's face in the picture.

Picking up a crayon I drew a brown stick figure next to her solitary girl. She looked up at me questioningly. "That's me okay. You're not alone, not anymore."

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Later that night she had dozed off across my lap as I stroked her hair. The door opened and I looked up. Daniel walked in and quietly closed the door behind him. He mimicked a phone call and I nodded. It was probably the archeology department with the report on some artifacts our team had found earlier this week.

I felt the girl waking up and I looked down at her sleepy eyes. "How you feeling?" I asked smiling. "Listen, I have to go somewhere for a little while. But you're not going to be alone." I looked towards Daniel. "Daniel's going to be here the whole time. You remember Daniel, right?" He smiled and her, but she just sighed in exhaustion.

"You're very brave, remember. I'll be back before you know it." I started to get up.

"Please don't go." The girl spoke pleadingly in a small voice.

My eyes widened and I looked to Daniel who wore the same shocked expression. "You feel like telling me your name?" I asked tentatively, brushing some hair away from her face

"Cassandra."

"Hi, Cassandra." I smiled tugging on a lock of her hair gently She sighed again and looked up at me with pained eyes. "I hurt." Sucking in a breath I asked, "Where?" Cassandra pulled her hand free of the stuffed panda and tapped the center of her chest.

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Cassandra was back on the examination tale for the third time today. Janet listened to her chest then pulled her stethoscope away and hooked it around her neck. "Sounds good. No fluid in her lungs."

But I wasn't convinced. "She described it more like a sharp, stabbing pain."

Janet walked to her computer station and jerked my head to follow. Whatever she was going to say she wanted to make sure Cassandra couldn't hear. "I have no idea of what to say or do. Her latest blood work shows a marked potassium deficiency. I have no idea what is causing it or how it got so low, so quickly, but one of the effects can be arrhythmia."

"You're sure she doesn't have the disease?" I asked.

"Uh-hm. Positive. These are't the symptoms of a bacterial infection." Janet said quietly.

Cassandra glanced over at us. She may be young but she wasn't stupid, she knew we were talking about her.

Not wanting to alarm her I quickly walked back to her. She held her arms out and I helped her down from the table. "All right, let's go back to our room. Thank you." I told Janet as we passed her on our way out.

"Thank you." Cassandra smiled up at Janet. "You are welcome." Janet said patting her head.

We were almost to the door when Cassandra stopped short. She crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes went wide with pain. "Cassandra what's wrong!" I yelled taking her by the shoulders. She was unresponsive. Suddenly she collapsed against me.

"Get her on the table!" Janet shouted to me.

I scooped her up and put her on the table. Janet felt around her neck for a pulse. "What is it? What's happening?" My voice cracked with panic.

"She's got an irregular heartbeat. She's in arrest." Janet jerked back from the table and ran to the wall and pressed the alarm. "Code blue to lab. Code blue!" Janet started CPR and the team of medical personnel rushed in with a crash cart. "We've got a cardiac arrest, potassium deficiency. Get me a number seven-cuff incubation tracheal tube now."

I chewed my nails off to the side giving them room to work. They pressed monitors to Cassandra's chest and my heart nearly stopped when I realized that they weren't picking up any heart beat from Cassandra.

Janet started chest compressions. "Defib. Stop CPR. Defib. Sixty joules. Come on! Come on! Clear!" She ripped her hands away and a nurse pressed the defib paddles to Cassandra's chest.

The electric shock jolted her small body and on the monitors the beeping of a faint heartbeat was finally heard.

"Let me in, let me in." Janet pushed the nurse out of the way and listened to Cassandra's chest with her stethoscope. "I want you to notify the ICU. I want her potassium level rechecked, stat."

"Get down to the lab." A technician ordered.

"Wait. Wait…wait….wait…wait. Oh my God." Janet started down in shock at her stethoscope. "Get me a chest x-ray, stat." She yelled at the group of nurses and technicians.

"What is it!?" I asked running up beside the table.

"I don't know. Listen." She handed me the stethoscope.

When I put them in I heard the sound of Cassandra's heart pumping blood, but underneath it all was a mechanic whooshing that accompanied each beat. Janet and I glanced at each other, confusion and fear written all over our faces.

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Cassandra slept fitfully in the examination room while I waited in Janet's office for the results. As soon as Daniel had heard had came right up and waited with me. I was so nervous that I didn't even realize that I had been tapping my foot until Daniel put a hand on my knee to stop me. The sudden contact startled me and I jumped. Daniel gave me a forced smile and opened his mouth to say something, but stopped when the door flew open.

Janet rushed in followed by Hammond and slapped a x-ray into the light box. It showed a spine, rib cage, and where the heart should be, a large mass tendrilled out into the surrounding tissue.

"Oh my God." I exclaimed shooting out of my seat.

"What is it?" Hammond demanded.

Janet shook her head, her concerned eyes fixed on the x-ray. "I don't know, but it wasn't there ten hours ago."

Author's note: I know this chapter's kind of short compared to some of the past ones but I'm trying breaking up the storys so the chapters don't become to long. Stay tuned and review! :)


	12. Chapter 12

Author's note: Do I own this? Nope, nadda. I'd just like to take this time to say thank you everyone reading this, and to all who have followed, favorited, or reviewed. I'm so sorry this took so long to update. I've been so busy with exams and graduation that I haven't been able to write as much as I want to. Now that its almost summer I should be able to update far more often. I hope you all enjoy. :)

Chapter Twelve

Deja vu. Cassandra was lying in an observation room just like the one Kawalsky had been in a few weeks ago. She was hooked up to dozen of monitors measuring heart rate and respiration.

Daniel and Hammond sat with me in the observation deck while medical personal buzzed about Cassandra. As they started the procedure Daniel took my hand in his. I smiled at his display of comfort.

Dr. Warner had made a small incision in Cassandra's chest. "I'm inserting the scope. Image up." On one of the monitors a real time image of her heart came up. Her heart pumped away, though with each open and closing of her heart valves a metallic object could be seen inside her heart.

Dr. Warner looked at the vital readouts and took a deep breath. "I'd advancing the scope."

The beeping that indicated heart rate picked up. "Pulse is rising." Janet reported, urgency rising in her voice.

"Adjusting view." Warner said rotating the scope.

Finally a clear view of the object came up on the monitor. It was circular with small tendril of metal branching out into the surrounding tissue.

"Well, parts of it are definitely organic." Janet observed.

"I'm going to move in closer and try to get a biopsy." Warner moved the scope closer to object.

"Pulse is now 140."

The probe moved closer to the object and a small metal instrument reached forwards and scraped its metal covering and surrounding tissue. "I'm staking some samples."

The heart monitor began issuing alarms. "We have to stop." Janet shouted at the doctor.

"Just a little more." Dr. Warner pushed the scope in a little further.

Suddenly Cassandra's heart rate picked up, making the beeping of the heart monitor like one long sound. Then she flat-lined.

Dr. Warner immediately pulled out. "Removing scope. Prepare the paddles!" A nurse handled him the defib paddles. "Charging. Clear!"

I shot out of my seat, knocking my chair over, my hand flying to my mouth in horror. Daniel stood to, putting his arms around my shoulders.

Right as he reached in with the paddles Cassandra's heart started up again. "Wait, wait." Janet shouted, stopping him from shocking Cassandra. "Pulse is normal"

Letting out a breath I didn't know I'd been holding I slumped against Daniel in relief.

"I'm sorry General." Warner called up. "But I don't dare proceed any further."

Hammond frowned as he spoke into the mic. "You did your best son."

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I watched Cassandra sleeping fitfully. She was curled against my side where I sat next to her on her bed. It wasn't fair. I know the world isn't fair, if it was fair nothing that happened the last few months would have happened. If the world was fair nothing bad would ever happened to good people. The world isn't fair, but could it give this little girl a break.

Cassandra tossed and turned, moaning in her sleep. I brushed my hand over hair, trying to calm her. Her eye flew open and she had that confused look of one newly awoken and unsure of where they were. "Mom?" Her voice carried a little of a whimper at the end.

It felt like a cruel knife to the heart that I couldn't give her her mother. "Hey baby." I said and her eyes found mine and focused.

"I was dreaming about my mom." She said with a sigh.

"You miss your mom very much?"

Cassandra nodded and buried her face in her pillow. "I'm tired."

"Well, you should get some rest. Don't worry, everything's going to be just fine. And when you get better, I promise you I am going to show you all the wonderful things about this planet." I got up from the bed and pulled her blanket tighter around her small body.

"Promise?" She asked pleadingly.

"Absolutely." I smiled down at her. "I mean it might take a little while to see _everything_. And by the time we try all the different foods we'll be so fat..."

She busted out laughing and reached up for a hug. Wrapping my arms around her I just hoped she lived to do those things.

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After she dozed off I headed out. Janet was doing an experiment with the material scraped off the object in Cassandra's chest and I wanted to be there. As I closed the door behind me I was surprised to find Daniel sitting in chair outside, apparently waiting patiently. If there was thing I knew about Daniel, it was that he wasn't patient, not unless he was truly worried.

"How is she?" He asked standing.

"She's fine, sleeping." I said, staring down the hall to Janet's office, expecting him to follow behind me.

He took me by the arm as I passed him. "Um. Um, if you want…I can sit with her tomorrow. For a few hours."

"No, I'm okay." I answered. He raised his eyebrows, unconvinced. "I just…I want to, need to do this."

Daniel watched me long and hard before speaking again. "Okay. But I guess what I'm saying is that you don't have to do this alone."

Smiling I took his hand. "I not alone."

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"The layer of fatty tissue between the two sides of the object is decaying very slowly." Janet said. We were watching a live feed from a room several floors down. Two robotic arms were posed to connect.

"What's the significance?" Organic chemistry was never Daniel's strong suit.

"I'm not sure." Janet tapped on the computer screen with her pen. "I'm about to do an experiment to find out. One side of the object is made up of a combination of iron and potassium; the other side is made up of the element that makes up the Stargate."

"What?" Daniel exclaimed, taking a seat next to Janet and I in front of the computer

"Uh-hm. I'm assuming it's the Naquada that was in her blood. Somehow the object is collecting it."

I scooted closer to the monitor to get a better look at the readings. "Now, from what I remember of chemistry, potassium can be one of the most volatile alkaline metals on Earth. If it was combined with even a small amount of Naquada..." I trialed off. What I remembered of my high school classes wasn't enough to give me a definitive answer, but if I had to guess I would say that the result would be very, very bad.

"That doesn't sound very good." Daniel agreed with my thoughts.

"The room you're looking at is in the sub-basement floor of the complex. It's lead sealed. Let's see what happens when we put the two objects together." Janet typed in commands to the computer and the robotic arms began to slowly move closer together.

"Where are the samples?" I asked, the robot arms didn't seem to be holding anything.

"I'm only using a microscopic particle of each." Janet explained.

"Do you think that'll be enou..." I began, but stopped in shock when the arms came to together. A loud boom came from both the monitor and and below us, shaking the room. The video feed filled with static for a moment before fizzing out.

"The readings are off the scale. Gamma and particle radiation." Janet shouted, frantically typing.

"Are we safe?" Daniel asked.

Janet watched the readouts for a moment before sitting back in her chair and nodding. "Yeah, but we have a big problem."

"If two microscopic particles can cause that…" I said.

Janet finished for me. "Then the object inside Cassandra could cause a nuclear reaction a million times bigger." She ran her hand across her forehead and slammed her pen down on the table top.

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Hammond called a meeting shortly after that. Janet, Daniel and I sat around the briefing table with Hammond at the head. Daniel was drumming, more like pounding, his fingers against the table "It's a setup. It has to be. The Goa'ulds wiped out every last living person on that planet except Cassandra, and then they made us think that it was our fault; because they knew that we wouldn't leave her there. They knew that we would bring her back here. And they used their technology to put that thing inside of her." He was utterly disgusted and enraged.

Janet handed Hammond a report on the device and the results of the experiment."It's like they designed a way for us to help them create the device after she came through the Stargate. So we wouldn't detect it until it was too late. We gave her iron supplements. We may even have turned the device on with a jolt of electricity when we resuscitated her."

"You're saying it's meant to destroy us." He asked flipping through the report.

I nodded "At least this complex; the threat to the Goa'uld, the Stargate."

"They used that little girl like a Trojan Horse." Daniel was barley containing his anger. I couldn't see what his hands were doing, but the distinctive sound of a pencil snapping came from his direction.

Hammond only glanced at him before turning to Janet. "How long do we have?"

Janet stared emotionlessly down at her hands as she spoke. "One hour and fifty-two minutes."

Hammond was a little taken aback. "You can predict it that accurately?"

"The cellular decay of the tissue Dr. Warner sampled appears to be happening like clockwork." Janet answered.

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I stood the edge of Cassandra's bed watching her sleep, oblivious and completely innocent. I bit down on my fist to keep from sobbing. My body shook so hard that I was sure I would fall apart at any moment. That was how Daniel found me. "How could they do this,Dani?" I asked, tears spilling from my eyes.

Daniel walked over and quickly pulled me into a hug. "To the Goa'uld, she's not as we see her. She's a tool. Her death is a very cheap way to get rid of us."

"I want to hurt them." I said through gritted teeth. "For this, for everything."

"I know." Daniel tightening his arms around me.

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I waited for Hammond to hand up his phone call before knocking. He looked up from his desk and waved for me to come in.

"I know this decision isn't easy for you." I said sitting in one of the two chairs arranged around the front of his desk.

"In fact, the decision is quite easy." He hung his head and let out a defeated sigh. "The consequences are what's difficult."

"There has to be another way. There has to." I pleaded.

He shook his head sternly, wiping all emotion off his face. "I've been assured there is absolutely no way to remove the object from the girl without killing her. Therefore, we have no choice. According to Dr. Fraiser's measurements, the rate of atomic decay, we have one hour and twenty minutes left. The girl should be prepared to go back through the Stargate."

I stood . "I'll take her, Sir."

"Along with SG-4. I want O'Neill and Teal'c to return with you." He said, some sympathy leaking through his stoic demeanor.

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"Chevron three, encoded. Chevron four, encoded." A technician announced over the loudspeakers as each coordinated was imputed on the spinning Stargate.

Cassandra and I stood at the end of the ramp in our biosuits. I held her hand while we waited for the gate to finished dialing.

Suddenly her grip on my hand slackened and her she looked up at me, her gaze unfocused. "Mom?" she asked in a small voice. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she collapsed.

"Cassandra!" I screamed catching her head before it hit the ground. I glanced up at the control room and met Daniel and Janet's eyes briefly before they ran out and down the stairs into the embarkation room. Janet knelt down to us and yanked Cassandra's mask off. Daniel stood a little ways back to let her work, pacing nervously with his hand over his mouth in shock.

"What's going on?!" I asked, my voice shrill with panic.

Janet felt Cassandra for a pulse and shined her light in her eyes. "She slipped into a comma." She announced.

"What?!" I yelled.

The gate behind us began to spin with n incoming wormhole. "Close the iris." Hammond ordered over the loudspeaker.

"No need sir." A technician answered. "I'm reading SG-1's remote signal."

_Oh, now what! _I thought, rocking an unconscious Cassandra in my arms.

The wormhole was only open for a few seconds before Jack, Sam and Teal'c tumbled through, dust and fly rocks exploding from the event horizon behind them. Jack threw himself to his feet as the gate shut off. "Get the girl away from the gate!" He shouted ripping his mask off.

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Janet had taken Cassandra back to the infirmary. After several assurances from Janet that she would keep her safe until I got back I grudgingly went up to a meeting to go over recent developments.

When I walked into the briefing room I was pressurized to see that they had all waited for me. I took a seat between Daniel and Sam.

Teal'c began relaying what he believed the Goa'uld's plan were. Apparently this Nerti had done something like this before. She planted a bomb in an emissary, and when they walked through the gate it had gone off. I shivered thinking about how close we had come to almost getting blow to kingdom come.

"The Goa'ulds kept SG-7 from coming back through to warn us. All part of the plan." Jack was to uptight to sit, so he walked around the table. This was his third time around since the meeting had begun.

"So what are we going to do now?" Daniel asked.

Hammond sighed and turned to Teal'c who sat next to him. "Teal'c, Dr. Fraiser says the device inside the girl is on some sort of timer. You're sure it will go off if we send the girl through the Stargate?"

Teal'c's eye twitched, but otherwise gave no other sign to the anger that I could tell he was felling as he answered. "We should not attempt it. The Earth Gate is what the Goa'uld wish to destroy."

"Cassandra's condition deteriorated once she got near the Stargate." I said.

"I can't risk the security of this mountain. We'll have to take her somewhere else." Hammond looked around at my team sternly, meeting each of our gazes.

Jack had come to a stop behind an empty chair and glared down at the table top. Then his eyebrows shot up with a sudden idea and he snapped his fingers in rapid fire. "What about the abandoned nuclear facility in…"

"Right. It's just twenty minutes away." Hammond interrupted and strode into his office, picking up his direct phone line to the white house. "This is Major General Hammond. Get me the Secretary of Defense immediately. Tell him it's a matter of life and death."

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It was nighttime as we all rode in the back of a military transport to the nuclear facility. I held Cassandra close to keep her from tumbling as the road became increasingly bumpy. The transport stopped a small concrete building in the middle of a huge forest.

Immediately a dozen armed officers climbed out and took up posts around the building and its entrance.

The rest of SG-1 climbed out, waiting for me to bring Cassandra. Seeing that I couldn't climb down with her in my arms Teal'c climbed back in and carefully took her out of my arms and climbed out. I smiled at his gratefully and joined him on the ground.

I held my arms out for her once I was firmly back on unmoving earth. Teal'c quirked his one eye brow, then bowing his head slightly he handed her back to me.

Holding her close I turned to follow Jack and Sam into the building. I saw Daniel watching me closely and I knew that he could tell I was straining with Cassandra's weight a little. He held his hands up, a gesture that if I need him he would take her. I shook my head sadly and glanced down at the small girl in my arms. I didn't want to spend what little time she had away from her.

Entering the building SG-1 took up positions in a circle around Cassandra and I. We walked down a cold, concrete corridor that lead deep into the mountain, coming to a stop before a set of elevator doors.

Jack checked to make sure the elevator was operational and pressed the up button. Then he turned around to face me. "I can take her from here now, Erin."

"No Jack, I got this."

He nodded curtly and jerked his thumb over his shoulder gesturing at the doors. "This elevator goes down thirty floors through solid rock. Takes about three minutes to get to the bottom. That gives you four minutes to start back up."

As if on cue, the doors opened and I walked forward into them. Facing my team I met each of their gazes before the doors closed.

It seemed like an eternity. There was nothing to do but watch the red glowing numbers in the far corner of the elevator count off the floors we passed on our way to the bottom.

I felt Cassandra stir in my arms, but I was to wrapped up in my own head for the moment.

"Where are we going?" Her voice pierced my consciousness like a lance.

My heart, already drumming away, began pounding even harder I my eyes flew wide in horror. _Of all the merciful gods, why did she have to be awake for this. _The universe was cruel if it was going to let her see the end coming.

"Go back to sleep." I begged her, kissing her forehead.

"I'm not tired anymore." She protested like any child would and squirmed to be put down and I set her on her feet. She glanced up at me. "Are you crying?" she asked, and for the first times I noticed how wet my cheeks had become.

The elevator doors opened, and taking her hand I lead her down the hall to one of the chambers Jack had told me were sealable, the better to contain the blast he said.

The lock on the outside looked like the steering wheel of an old ship. Swirling the lock open, there were a few faint clicks and I heaved against the heavy metal door, pushing it open.

There was a small bit of crumbling concrete in a corner of the room the could serve as a crude seat. Taking Casandra's hand I led her into the room and sat her down. I knelt down so were we face to face. "I need you to sit and rest here for a while, okay? I have to go."

"You promised to never leave me alone." She whimpered slightly.

Tears fell from my eyes, regardless of how strong I tried to be for her. "It'll be okay, I'll be right back." I choked up. Taking a deep breath I brushed back some of Cassandra's hair. "You are so brave. Remember?"

She nodded slightly, somehow she seemed to know what was coming. "I'm very brave."

"I have to close the door." I said standing. Again she nodded and I walked to the entrance.

Grabbing on to the lock I paused. This wasn't right, I couldn't leave her here, alone. Silently I thought about Daniel and Jack who were my closest family. About Sam and Teal'c who I'd become close to the last few months. About Sha're and... Skaara. Without a doubt I knew that one day they would be freed, but not by me. "Goodbye." I whispered and taking the door I slammed it shut, swirling the lock in place and sealing us both in.

A voice box next to the door crackled with Jack's voice. "Erin, do you read me?"

I pressed to outgoing button so he could hear me. "Jack, I'm staying."

"Negative, get back up here."

"Jack," I sighed, taking a deep breath. "She's awake."

"Oh God." I heard Daniel say faintly in the background.

"I'm sorry" It seemed so inadequate for last words, but they were all I had.

Jack wouldn't give up that easily. "No, I am ordering you to get back up here, right now. Right now!"

I ignored him and ran to Cassandra. We wrapped each other in a hug, she burying her face in my shoulder.

"Are we going to die?" She asked.

"No, we are not going to die."

On my watch a timer had been set, counting down until the device was supposed to go off. I watched as I went from 10...9...8, and held Casandra tighter.

"We're both very brave." She said. "I love you."  
"I love you too." I smiled through the tears.

3...2... I closed my eyes and waited for the heat.

Waited.

Waited.

Nothing happened. We pulled back and looked at each other.

"Erin? Can you hear me?" Jack called over the intercom. "Erin?"

Standing I went to let them all know we were still alive. "We're okay. Nothing happened. Cassandra's fine, I'm fine. It didn't happen. I just…I couldn't leave her."

"How did you know?" Jack asked.

"I... didn't. I just had a feeling that everything would be okay. I can't explain it." Smiling I looked back a Cassandra.

She let out a laugh and made a running jump into my arms, hugging me tight.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

It was a beautiful day at the park. Jack had called and said to meet him there, and that he had a surprise. Daniel an I walked with a swinging Cassandra between us, with Sam and Teal'c bringing up the rear.

"Aren't you a little heavy for this." Daniel grunted as Cassandra took another swing.

"Cassandra!" Jack called from across the park, something fuzzy wiggled in his arms.

"Hey, there he is." I smiled and let go of her hand as she went running up to Jack.

"So, how'd you know?" Daniel asked as we took a seat on a bench.

"I can't explain it, Daniel. I just knew." I shrugged.

Teal'c's mouth quirked in a little smile. "Mother's instinct, perhaps."

"Subtle." I grinned at him, and Sam had to stifle a laugh to.

Jack had come over to stand by our group. "Are you sure about this?" He asked while watching Cassandra play with a little ball of fuzz.

I laughed, running a hand through my messy hair. It seemed everyone knew I was adopting Casandra. "Why, afraid of being made a grandpa at such a young age?" I asked.

His eyes widened in shock for a moment, then he smiled like he liked that idea. "Grandpa Jack, has a ring to it."

"Hey Erin." Cassandra called running over with an armful of puppy. "See my new dog?" She grinned ear to ear.

"Wow. Your new dog?" I questioned, then glared up at a smirking Jack, who just shrugged as if saying, _What can you do?. _

She nodded vigorously. "It's an Earth rule. Every kid has to have one. But I don't mind."

Again I glared at Jack, "Its a good thing I went for the condo instead of the apartment then."

"Why don't I take the dog for a little walk." He took the dog out of Casandra's arms. "C'mere, Teal'c? You know anything about dogs?"

"Nothing." Teal'c quirked his eyebrow. "Captain Carter, will you assist?"

Still smiling, Sam rose from the bench to follow, "Sure."

Roving my eyes around the park, something caught my eye. "Hey Cassandra, remember what I said about all the wonderful things about this planet?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"Well I'm gonna start right now." I said taking her hand.

"What are those?" She asked, pointing at the set of play equipment we were walking towards.

"Those are called swings." I answered.

"They look like fun. We never had _swings_ in... Toronto." She said using the cover for where she had supposedly been born.

"They sure are fun." I smiled as she took of at a run towards them.

Author's Note: Only a few more until I start on season two. I've been thinking about putting what I write of season two in a separate new story entry, though I would keep it in this entry if that is what ya'll want. Let me know and review. :)


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